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Turkey in Iraq

Ankara has already made it pretty clear that withdrawal from Iraq’s Kurdish north will be dictated by successes on the ground, not predetermined timetables as both Baghdad and Washington would have liked. So while the relatively calm Kurdish areas come under increased fighting, the responsibility of finding a solution acceptable to all parties concerned once again falls on Washington for a host of reasons.

Turkey’s assault is justified and its frustrations understandable. There are no two views that Turkey has to defend itself against the attacks and acts of terror by the Kurdish separatists.

A lot of the debate before the actual aerial and ground assault focused on the Iraqi occupation forces’ 'kid gloves' treatment of the rebels taking refuge in the country’s north. Since both the US and the EU have branded the PKK terrorists, their refusal to clamp down on them following the occupation was seen in Ankara as a policy of dichotomy of sorts, exempting PKK from the terrorist list temporarily to appease the Kurdish faction of the sensitive Iraqi alliance.

America and Iraq again dillydallied when the Turkish parliament okayed the military option, perhaps deciphering the move as a show of frustration that could be settled with amicable rhetoric. Now, with the fighting long underway and loss of life mounting, there is danger of the urban-guerilla pattern that inflicts much of the war against terrorism finding its way to the Kurdish areas also, throwing Iraq all but completely out of control of the occupiers.

Turkey is not going to leave the job half done. Therefore, Robert Gates and Co should not be surprised if their words fall on deaf ears in Ankara. What is needed is offer of a sincere effort to accept the PKK faction operating inside Iraq as part and parcel of the problem of terrorism that the coalition was stitched together to combat in the first place. Failing complete commitment, Turkey is unlikely to simply retreat to its own territory, waiting for the next round that will probably see the Kurds attempt revenge strikes inside the Turkish heartland.

The American establishment has made a poor showing in Iraq. And with its take on the latest crisis to visit the country, it seems no lessons have been learnt and the establishment remains oblivious to ground realities. Turkey is simply not going to abandon its most serious strike to date on a struggle that has already claimed more than 30,000 lives. It will go for the jugular. If Washington and Baghdad really wish to curtail Turkish incursion, they should help it handle the PKK once and for all.