How Barzani clan came to change roles with Assad family
Considering recent history, it must seem highly ironic to hear Syrian President Bashar al-Assad say he is backing Turkey’s fight against terrorism. Approximately 10 years ago, Syria was facing exactly the same position that Iraq is facing today.
In the 1990s, it was Syria under the rule of Bashar’s late father Hafiz Esad that was providing a safe haven for the PKK. On Sept. 16, 1998 Turkish Land Forces Commander General Atilla Ateş, warned Esad’s regime to stay away from the Turkish-Syrian border. Without naming names, he asked Turkey’s neighbors to stop supporting terrorists. He said, “We fear no one. We do not covet an inch of anyone’s territory. However, we shall fight to protect the interests of our country if the need arises.” That was a clear signal that Turkey had had enough of Syria’s lies that it was neither sheltering PKK’s leader Abdullah Öcalan nor providing safe haven to his militants.
Syrian leadership got the message. They got rid of Öcalan.
At that time, Bashar al-Assad was the heir to the president. By the time he took office, upon the death of his father, Öcalan was out of the country and a rapprochement between the two countries was well under way.
That’s why it was rather interesting to see him emphasizing Damascus’ backing a possible Turkish incursion into northern Iraq to pursue the PKK, saying it was “Turkey’s legitimate right.”
Today Barzani’s clan seems to have changed roles with Assad family. While Turkey was exerting pressure on Syria to give up supporting the PKK, Barzani’s peshmergas were busy fighting it.
Ten years ago, Turkey had the backing of the United States. In fact it is no secret that it is due to U.S. help, both in terms of political backing and intelligence assistance, that Öcalan was unable to find shelter anywhere in the world and was finally captured in Kenya and brought back to Turkey.
Today, Turkey does not have the backing of the U.S.
Role reversal
Considering recent history, it must seem highly ironic to hear U.S. President Bush telling journalists: “We are making it very clear to Turkey that we don’t think it is in their interest to send troops into Iraq.”
Mr. Bush attacked Iraq, on the premise that it was posing a terrorism threat with its suspected arsenal of weapons of mass destruction. The Turkish side told the U.S. administration a hundred times that it was not in American best interest to attack Iraq, since the ensuing chaos would make the Vietnam War look like a nice memory.
It must be quiet ironic for those few officials left in the U.S. administration with common sense to see that Assad was taking a swipe at American leadership when he said, “It is important to note that the powers that have invaded Iraq are those primarily responsible for the terror activities and attacks because they control the country.” Once it was the Americans telling the Syrians to stop supporting the PKK.
Defining moment in U.S.-Turkey relations
This crisis is not just about fighting PKK terror. It is also about Mr. Barzani’s defiance against Turkey. Uneasy with Turkey’s reaction to his aspirations of independence, Mr. Barzani uses the PKK card as leverage against Turkey. This is why there were calls from northern Iraq Thursday for direct talks on the issue of PKK. Mr. Barzani wants to be addressed directly by Ankara. He seeks recognition by Ankara.
Prior to the elections in Turkey, there was a controversy between the government and the military over dialogue with Iraqi Kurdish leadership. The military made clear its opposition to such a dialogue, whereas the government was more ambiguous about it. At that time there were only few in the civilian cadre who believed in the benefit of direct dialogue with Mr. Barzani. The dominant view was that everything had been done to engage Mr. Barzani, but to no avail. After the elections this view seems to prevail.
Thus, Turkey is addressing the Iraqi central government and the Americans, instead of Iraqi Kurds.
Obviously, under the circumstances Turkey expects neither of them to take up arms against the PKK. What is expected from them is that they exert pressure on Mr. Barzani.
As former U.S. Ambassador to Ankara Morton Abramowitz said recently, we are in a defining moment in Turkish-American relations. For those who believed in the reciprocal benefits of Turkish-American alliance, the scenarios of the best-selling Turkish novel Metal Storm in which Turkish soldiers battle American soldiers in northern Iraq were simple fantasy. But the shortsighted policies of the Bush Administration might prove them wrong. So far, the scope of Washington’s moves indicate that cooperation with Barzani is more heavily weighted than a strategic alliance with Turkey.