Raids across the
border
December 22, 2007
The Economist
Was there a deal between Turkey and America?
AS IF Iraq did not have enough problems of its own.
On December 16th Turkish aircraft bombed what they
said were Kurdish rebel positions deep inside
northern Iraq. It was one of the biggest
cross-border air strikes in recent years and was
followed by an incursion by about 300 Turkish
troops. They were said to be lightly armed, and
advanced only 3km (1.9 miles) into Iraq. But the two
actions mark a big escalation of the traditional
hostilities.
The Turks' targets were Kurdish fighters of the
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), who have used bases
inside the semi-autonomous Kurdish enclave in
northern Iraq to launch raids into Turkey. Although
Iraq's American occupiers have worked hard in recent
months to prevent such a raid, Turkey's most senior
general said that the Americans had not only agreed
to the air strikes but had also provided the
necessary intelligence.
If this is true, it may be the result of a delicate
balancing act. The Kurdish enclave in the north is
the most successful part of post-Saddam Iraq. The
Americans do not want it to be destabilised. But
they also want to salvage relations with Turkey, a
vital NATO ally whose people have become strongly
anti-American since America invaded Iraq in 2003.
Many Iraqi Kurds do not believe Turkey's claim that
it is motivated only by the raids of PKK fighters.
They fear that Turkey's real aim is to prevent the
Kurdish areas of Iraq from gaining full
independence, which would stoke up an appetite for
secession among Turkey's own Kurdish population. The
head of Iraq's Kurdish regional government refused
to meet the visiting American secretary of state,
Condoleezza Rice, as “a sign of protest” against
American acceptance of the Turkish raids.
It may well be that America and Turkey have struck a
deal. In exchange for American support for the
limited Turkish raids, and a promise to order the
Iraqi Kurds to take action against the PKK, Turkey's
prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is thought to
have made his own promises to George Bush. These
include recognising the Kurds' regional government
in Iraq and introducing a more liberal amnesty for
PKK fighters.
A previous amnesty that pardoned only those who
ratted on their comrades failed. Now the government
may pardon all PKK fighters who have not been
involved in violence. After more than two decades of
war against the rebels, Turkey knows that military
measures alone cannot fix its Kurdish problem.
