01 February 2007

Turkey, the Kurds & Iraq

When Turkey refused an American request to use Turkish territory to invade Iraq three years ago it did so because it was, amongst other things, concerned about the impact on the Kurdish populations in both Iraq and Turkey. It wasn't concerned in a good way of course. It wanted both minorities, especially its own oppressed Kurds, to remain docile and not pushing for an independent Kurdistan comprising territory from both countries.

It is now considering military intervention within Iraq against the Kurdistan Worker's Party or PKK. The PKK is a virulently nationalist group which is also, perhaps more worryingly to Washington, leftist.

Should Turkey violate Iraqi territory, whilst COW (the Coalition of the Willing) is still violating Iraqi territory it will certainly stir the shit up even more. Kurdistan has been relatively docile since the invasion with most of the Kurds quietly hoping for the central state to collapse and a federal Iraq, with Kurdish control of the oil in their region, to emerge from the ashes.

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