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ANKARA: Yet Another Kurdistan Map

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  • ANKARA: Yet Another Kurdistan Map

    Cumhuriyet, Turkey
    October 26 2008


    Yet Another Kurdistan Map

    Mahmut Gurer

    The US congress has shown Turkey's east with the borders of an
    imaginary state.

    Ankara -In a report on "The Kurds in Post-Saddam Iraq" prepared by the
    US Congressional Research Service, [apparently the one available at
    http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RS22079.pdf] ], the Southeast
    Anatolia and East Anatolia regions are shown within the borders of
    Kurdistan. It is noted in the report that the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional
    Government could seek independence, and it is stated that Turkey,
    Iran, and Syria, as well as the Shi'ite and Sunni [Arab] groups in
    Iraq, oppose this initiative. Although it is stressed in the report
    that the PKK is a "terrorist organization," members of the separatist
    organization being referred to as "guerrillas" is also noteworthy.

    A new map scandal has taken place in the six-page report entitled "The
    Kurds in Post-Saddem Iraq," which was prepared by Kenneth Katzman, a
    specialist of the "Congressional Research Service," which works in
    affiliation with the US Congress; the report was submitted to the
    Congress on 25 September and is currently available on the
    Congressional internet site with serial number RL34642. In the map on
    the final page of the report, the Kurdistan region is portrayed in
    such a way as to take in the Southeast and East Anatolia regions of
    Turkey, the west of Iran, the northeast of Syria, and a portion of
    Armenia and Azerbaijan. The source of the map is likewise identified
    as the Congressional Research Service, and the legend to the map
    includes the note "red indicates Kurdish area." The report also
    includes noteworthy observations regarding the Kurdistan Regional
    Government, the Iraqi Turkomans, Turkey, and the PKK. These
    observations are as follows:

    -The Saddam period prepared the ground for the Iraqi Kurdish leaders
    to enter into a close relationship with US leaders.

    -The Iraqi constitution has provided the Kurds in the north of the
    country the opportunity to form a regional but de facto state. Even
    if the Kurdish leaders say they are not seeking independence, young
    Kurds who eventually replace them could seek independence.

    -Kurds claim that Kirkuk, Diyala, and a portion of Mosul province are
    historically Kurdish cities, and that they must be integrated into
    the Kurdistan Regional Government. They have been working to persuade
    the Iraqi Arabs and the Turkoman minority in this regard.

    -The Kirkuk issue is closely followed by Turkey as well. Turkey
    assesses the Kirkuk issue in line with historic ties, and fears that
    the integration into the Regional Government of Kirkuk, which has
    more than 10 per cent of Iraq's oil, could enable the Kurds to win
    independence.

    -Turkey sees the north of Iraq as a free area for the PKK. For this
    reason, it claims that the regional government, which has a long
    border with Turkey, is to blame. Accordingly, in 2007, approximately
    100,000 troops were moved to the border after [Iraqi Kurdistan
    Regional President Mas'ud] Barzani said "if Turkey interferes in the
    cities of the Kurdistan Regional Government, we will interfere in the
    Kurdish cities of Turkey." Immediately thereafter, in September and
    October of 2007, 40 Turkish soldiers were killed by "PKK guerrillas."
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