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U.S.-Kurds' special relationship at risk over fraying Turkey alliance
From Geostrategy-Direct, subscription.The Kurds have been the best friends of the United States in Iraq. But Washington might have to decide between supporting the Kurds or losing Turkey as an ally. Sticky wicket. Turkey stuck it to the US when they did not allow the 4ID to cross Turkey during OIF. As a result, the Bush administration has been quietly urging the autonomous government in Kurdistan to meet Turkish demands to stop the Kurdish Workers Party, an insurgency movement in northern Iraq. The administration has also asked the Kurdish government to delay a controversial referendum regarding control of Kirkuk, the center of the oil sector in northern Iraq. The Kurds want the referendum held by the end of the year. "Postponement of the referendum is simply unacceptable," Qubad Talabani, the Washington representative for the Kurdistan regional government in northern Iraq, said at a conference in Washington. "It will lead to an escalation of the already tense situation, which may get out of control. The longer we delay the referendum, the worse the mess will be." For years, the United States angered the Turks with its open support of Iraqi Kurds. But now Washington needs Ankara's help with Iran and Iraq, and the harboring of the PKK by the autonomous Kurdish government has jeopardized U.S. interests. Needing Turkey's help is a bad thing. If we go along with their requirements, we are having Turkey call the tune. Not exactly a position of strength. At the Washington conference earlier this month, U.S. officials did not rush to the Kurdish side. Barbara Stephenson, deputy senior adviser and coordinator to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, said the Iraqis must resolve the Kirkuk problem within its constitution. "We don't have a position on the timing, we don't weigh in on that," Stephenson said. "We don't have to express whether it has to be by Dec. 31 or not. But the outcome should be one that takes into account the worries of all parties." Posted by: Alaska Paul 2007-04-21 |
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