Turkey and the Iraqi conundrum

This comment was published in Today’s Zaman, 7 March 2007


We see shocking pictures from Iraq every day. Hundreds of people, old and young, men and women, lose their lives while those who are lucky to survive are destined to live with physical injuries and psychological trauma.
Iraq is going through turbulent times despite high expectations from the other side. The removal of Saddam, who was a brutal dictator, was a welcome development for the people of Iraq but unfolding events after the American military invasion brought chaos and carnage. The future of Iraq doesn’t look promising as far as the nature of current events and their costs are concerned.
Iraq is located in a volatile region and has strategic significance with enormous oil reserves. Neither the US nor the neighboring countries in the region can afford to see Iraq with no solution in the short, mid and long terms. Iraq today faces three main challenges that may have an imprint both on Iraq and the region.
The first is the territorial disintegration of Iraq, which is unacceptable to all parties and actors involved. The second is a power vacuum and deepening ethnic/sectarian conflicts if US forces leave before any settlement, which is not on the horizon yet. The third is cooperation among various effective actors in Iraq to build a new future by leaving their ethnic, sectarian and historical hostilities aside. That requires reconciliation, compromise and finding common grounds for coexistence. This option, however, sounds like wishful thinking, given the complex picture in the war-scarred country.
As dramatic events unfold in the region, Turkey can play a constructive role there because it has been pursuing a peaceful foreign policy with its neighbors since its establishment. Turkey’s other characteristics also qualify Turkey to be a powerful actor in the negotiations of conflicts and stabilization of political tensions.
First, Turkey is a democratic country, though it has some shortcomings, and Turkey’s experience with democracy, political participation and civil society may inspire other countries in the region to establish participatory, accountable and transparent governance. Second, one foot of Turkey is in Europe and the other is in the Middle East. Countries that would like establish contacts or deepen their existing relations with Europe may participate in Turkey’s initiatives. Political stability and economic development with increasing foreign investment also strengthen Turkey’s role in the region. In this context, Iraq might enjoy Turkey’s contributions if a sustainable trust and working relations can be established between the two sides.
Turkey has had constructive relations with Iraq in the past and suffered most as a result of economic sanctions on Iraq since the Gulf war. Therefore, it is in the best interest of Turkey to contribute to the solution of various problems in Iraq. However, such an action requires willingness to cooperate on the part of Iraqis as well.
Turkey can extend its help to reconstruct political stabilization, the economy and infrastructure in Iraq. Kurds in Iraq emerged as an actor since the US invasion of Iraq and established their authority in the northern territory.
Turkey has had always friendly relations with the Kurds in northern Iraq. There has been economic and cultural exchange for many years. Moreover, Turkey hosted and helped thousands of Kurds from Iraq when Saddam dropped chemical bombs on their villages.
In addition to such humanitarian relations, Turkey invited leading Kurdish leaders to Turkey and provided them with the Turkish passports in the past so that they could promote their cause for liberty under an authoritarian regime. These are just some points that Kurds in Iraq should remember now.
Turks, Kurds, Arabs and Iranians, to name a few, are natural allies in this region. The US is here because this country wants to protect its national interests. As the former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger once said, the US foreign policy is based on national interests.
This means the US is not in the region for charity. In this context, then, Turkey and all groups in Iraq (Iraqi Kurds, Sunni and Shia Arabs, Turkomans) should be able to see that negotiations of current problems are in the interests of both parties. What needs to be done here is to find an effective language that would not hurt deeply rooted relations in the region. The Iraqi Kurds in particular should realize that when the US withdraws from the region, they will live side by side with Turkey, Syria and Iran.
As far as Turkey’s relations with the Iraqi Kurds are concerned, there is no consensus in Turkey. The current government signaled its willingness to establish relations with all sides including the Iraqi Kurds. Yet the president and the military seem to oppose such initiatives. Moreover, statements issued by some Kurdish politicians in Iraq have caused concern in Turkey, which complicates the question. If Kurdish leaders in Iraq use more tactful language and show that they can be reliable partners, the Turkish side might take faster steps to build channels of communication. In this context, statements by regional leader Massoud Barzani are not consistent. Sometimes he talks about cooperation with Turkey; other times he uses more hostile language. Such inconsistencies damage the trust that is the most missing element.
Moreover, Turkey considers the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) problem to be a domestic one and cannot tolerate any help provided to it in northern Iraq. Today, it is reported that PKK has camps in northern Iraq and the administration allows their activities in the region. This causes a huge setback in any attempts to establish working relations between Turkey and Kurdish leadership in northern Iraq. Despite all this, Turkey should consider taking all necessary steps to establish relations with all parties in the region, including Iraqi Kurds, as long as this contributes to solutions to the problems.