E-MAIL THIS LINK
To: 

Turkey asks U.S. ambassador to clarify remarks by Garner
Turkey's foreign ministry summoned the U.S. ambassador Friday to explain a reported reference by the U.S. official in charge of rebuilding Iraq to a northern Iraqi city as Kurdish. Turkish media reported that retired Lt. Gen. Jay Garner had characterized Kirkuk as a "Kurdish city" during talks in northern Iraq earlier this week. Ambassador Robert Pearson told reporters he discussed the issue with officials at the Foreign Ministry on Friday. Pearson said he did not know if Garner had made such a statement, but reiterated U.S. assurances that the city, that sits in one of the world's richest oil regions, would not fall into the hands of any one ethnic group. "All the cities of Iraq and all the resources of Iraq are for the people of Iraq," Pearson said. Turkey has ties with the ethnic Turkmen in Iraq. They also call Kirkuk home. Turkey also fears that Iraqi Kurdish groups could try to seize control of the oil rich area and use the resources to fund an independent Kurdish state. Turkey fears a Kurdish resurgence in northern Iraq could encourage Kurdish rebels in southeastern Turkey to revive a 15-year war for regional autonomy.
If it's that important to them, which it shouldn't be but probably is, Turkey should be working hard to prevent the accession to power of the Iranian stooges who're pushing for a theocracy in the south. If they were to succeed, which they probably won't, the stage would be set for Iraq's breakup into Sunni, Shiite, and Kurdish areas, with the Turkmen as a minority in Kurdistan. The stage is already set for an autonomous Kurdistan — they've been running it with a fair degree of success for the past ten years, thanks to Gen. Garner. It's Garner's experience in setting up Kurdistan that hold out hope he'll be able to do the same thing for Iraq as a whole, so the Turks should love him nearly as much as the Kurds seem to.

Posted by: Fred Pruitt 2003-04-26
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=13504