Iraqi Kurdistan Region “Red Line” is Turkish Attack on Civilians – Paper
Text of report headlined: “What are the red lines of the Kurdistan Region Presidency?”, published by privately-owned Iraqi Kurdish newspaper Awene website on 27 February
The Kurdistan Region Presidency has decided not to fight against the Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK) for Turkey, and not to fight against Turkey for the support of the PKK. But if the Turkish army enters villages and towns, then the peshmargas would resist this. The Kurdistan Region Presidency has defined this as the red line.
The Kurdistan Region Presidency has made up its mind that if the Turkish army enters the region’s populated villages and towns, it will fight against Turkey and the peshmerga forces have been prepared for this.
A source close to the presidency told Awene that a final decision to this end has been made and both ruling parties [Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP)] have agreed on this direction.
The source told Awene that when the president of the region [Mas'ud Barzani] visited Duhok on Friday 22 February 2008, he had a large force with him, with 10,000 peshmargas in a state of full readiness to confront the Turkish invasion.
About the position of the PUK, the administrator of the PUK Political Bureau, Mala Bakhtyar, said: “Defence is something sacred. We made this decision [to resist invasion] a long time ago.”
About the details of this resistance, he said: “We have not worked out the details yet. Mam [honorific] Jalal Talabani and Mas’ud Barzani will meet soon to discuss the Turkish military incursion and make a joint response.”
A source close to the region’s presidency indicated the sort of resistance they would adopt, saying that if a confrontation with the Turkish army took place, the Kurds would not be able to engage in battlefront fighting. They would instead resort to guerrilla war. He said: “If the Turkish army approached Kurdistan Region towns and villages, we would use whatever means at our disposal to fight them.”
Moreover, on Sunday 24 February 2008, a delegate from the American consulate in Arbil visited the the town of Al- Amadiyah in Duhok Governorate which had been the scene of heavy fighting between the Turkish army and PKK guerrillas. This delegate was from the US State Department. The aim of the visit is not yet known. No government or regional official has said anything about the visit.
On the ground, until the preparation of this report, the Turkish army has advanced 25 kilometres deep inside Kurdistan Region territory. An informed source told Awene that in the border area north of Barzan district and northeast of Deraluk, the Turkish army has occupied the villages of Bezale, Serne, Snje, Zewke, Shamke, and Spendara.
At the same time, a statement by the Turkish army has said that 112 PKK fighters have been killed so far. But the PKK has said that the Turkish army has lost 81 troops so far, including many high- ranking military officers, in addition to a downed helicopter.
On the Al-Amadiyah front of the fighting, five bridges have been destroyed by the Turkish forces. Although some military observers see these bridges as vital for the movement of PKK fighters, the Kurdistan Region government sees the destruction of these bridges as civilian targets.
Meanwhile, the external relations officer of the PKK, Ahmad Dayniz, told Awene that Turkish army has failed so far to make any advance. Only in some areas, they have advanced 2 to 3 kilometres inside Kurdistan region. He added that intensive fighting is going on in the areas of Zap, Jimju and Awashin.
Many political analysts believe that this invasion will continue for many months. Strategy expert Arjan Chitli Oghlu has told [the Turkish daily] Sabah: “I believe this operation will continue until the end of April. I do not think a security cordon will be set up. But some military units may stay in the area.”
About the difference between this and previous incursions, he said: “In this operation, all the military forces – air force, artillery, ground troops – are taking part. The bulk of the attacking force is Special Forces and special operations police force. They all have special training and are considered the elite fighting force of the Turkish army.”
Kurdish political observers say that Barzani and the KDP are suspicious about the agenda of this Turkish military invasion. Their reaction is directed more against the Turkish military establishment than Erdogan’s party. They fear that the Turkish army may broaden the area of its operation to put greater pressure on the Kurdistan Region government, especially in the areas controlled by the KDP.
This source, who wanted to remain anonymous, told Awene : “This war is decisive for the Turkish military establishment because it seems that this is the last opportunity that the Turkish government has given to the army to deal with the PKK by military means. After this military attack, Erdogan’s party will implement its own economic and social programme for Turkey, which aims to achieve important political gains for the party and diminish the considerable role that Turkish has traditionally had in Turkish society [sentence as received].”
The source indicated that this offensive started before its agreed date, which is the spring. Erdogan’s party preferred the prsesnt time rather than in spring when local elections are due, so that it would have enough time to start its economic and social reform plans in southeast Turkey.
This source also believes that this is a decisive war for the PKK, too, because on the one hand this fighting is being carried out with the logistical support of the US, and also it is taking place at a time when there is an Islamic party in power in Turkey which is trying to carry out some social and economic reforms to change the Kurdish character [in Turkey] from an ethnic character to an Islamic character. This will create a big danger for the Kurdish nationalist ideology in Turkey that is now represented by the PKK and Democratic Society Party.
Both military and political wings [of the Turkish government] have their own agendas. The PKK has its own agenda, too. What the Kurdistan Region’s political leadership should do is decide how to deal with these two agendas without losing its own independent decision-making power.
The main question now is this: When the president of the region says that “when Turkish army invasion affects civilians we will start an overall resistance”, what does he mean by this? Will this resistance be confined to military means? Or will it start before that by stirring up Kurdish public opinion in order to mobilise Kurdish society against this invasion?
Originally published by Awene website, Sulaymaniyah, in Sorani Kurdish 27 Feb 08.
(c) 2008 BBC Monitoring Middle East. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.