4 April 2009

Iraq’s Kurdish President Jalal Talabani says “I did not call on the PKK to lay down its arms”. He also argues that he did not call the PKK to leave Iraq. “I just delivered Turkey’s demands, those ideas were not mine” he adds.
So to speak…

So to speak, if we translate his words in English, Talabani means “I did not tell terrorists to lay down their weapons. I told them they can go ahead and continue their armed attacks. They are free to carry arms, they are free to do anything in Iraq.” You know, the PKK is a terrorist organization and enlisted as terrorist by the US, UK, Germany, EU, Turkey, Iraq, Iran and many other states.

In other words, Talabani also means “As President of Iraq, I did not call terrorists to leave Iraq. They can stay here as long as they please. I have no problem with them.”

In short, Talabani who publicly challenged and excluded PKK at the Turkish President Abdullah Gul’s presence, swallowed what he said while he was with Barzani.

The Associated Press reported on 29 March 2009 “Iraqi President Jalal Talabani repeated his call this week for the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, to stop fighting or leave Iraq. He made the call Monday during a visit by Turkish President Abdullah Gul”. Not only the AP but many other Turkish, Arab and international news agencies reported the same words. That’s why Turkish President Abdullah Gul was surprised yesterday when he was informed that Mr. Talabani lied his own words. “We talked, and we all listened to him at that press meeting. The entire world heard. I do want to believe in him and I do want to believe in what he said to me. Apart from that, the Iraqi Constitution does not allow any illegal terrorist organisation on Iraqi territories. It is clear in the Iraqi Constitution” President Gul says. As a matter of fact that we have just experienced a typical Talabani. He lied himself once more before the entire world. He has changed his words in couple of days. He acts as if he was a tribe leader, not the leader of a State.

***

Talabani is the Talabani that you know; Barzani is the very same Barzani… Nothing has changed in Northern Iraq. They just speak and lie their words in a day. They do not combat terrorism, they do not want to co-operate with Turkey in combating terrorism. On the other hand, terrorists are at the mountains waiting as their weapons in their hands.   

It is right. The international environment is quite suitable for the liquidation of the PKK. Yet, it is not possible to convince the terrorists to come back from the mountains by just sending official invitations. Responsible Iraqi and American authorities should disarm the terrorists in Iraqi territories and arrest them as they promised to Turkey. However it seems very difficult to convince Barzani and Talabani to combat the PKK terrorists by merely using diplomatic language and showing the possible advantages of cooperation with Turkey.

In these conditions, there are two options on the way: Either you apply hard power against Barzani and harm him or you convince him through using political / diplomatic pressure via the United States and Iraqi State. As a matter of fact, power is the only way to communicate with both Barzani and Talabani. They do not have a complex political philosophy. The meaning of ‘politics’ in their dictionary is vicious discussions, manipulations and hard power.

It is obvious that neither Barzani, nor Talabani is statesman. Just because of this reason, Turkey can and should not establish its terrorism policy by relying on their promises and actions. Hence, there is no valid ground for raising expectations too much for the time being. Without seeing the concrete steps, Turkey should not relax and satisfy.             

***

When we approach the situation from US’s point of view, as it is clearly depicted in the speech of one of Bush’s consultants, if the US does not need the PKK anymore, it should help Turkey on the way to destruct the PKK. Yet, ‘help’ of the US must not be restricted to the intelligence sharing. In fact, even Bush was convinced to share intelligence with Turkey. If Obama plans to go one step further than Bush, this step should be realized with joint operations on diverse grounds. In fact, Barzani and Talabani’s Peshmergas with the US pressure should also join these operations.

***

To sum up… Terrorists are at the Iraqi mountains…  Yet, they will not come back from there just through invitations. If the PKK is the common enemy fro Turkey, United States and Iraq, it is time to combat this common enemy together…