Thread: Archive Latest News - Think Tank - 16/08/07 - 03/11/07

Barham Salih calls on Britain to use its Influence to Prevent Turkey from attacking Kurdistan Region

Dr. Barham Ahmed Salih, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister, asked the British government to use its influence to put pressure on Turkey in order not infiltrate the Kurdistan region, because that threatens security and stability in Iraq.

The demand of Salih came during his meeting with members of the British parliament, headed by the Iraqi friend Mrs. Ann Claude, where he stressed the need for using Britain its influence in order to convince Turkey not to conduct a cross-border operation into Iraqi Kurdistan region territory.

Dr. Barham Salih also met with Mr. Tony Blair, former Prime Minister of UK, focusing on bilateral relations between Baghdad and the international community, as well as the issue of Kirkuk, calling for the need for moving away from sectarianism, and accelerating the implementation of Article 140 of the Iraqi permanent Constitution.

Iraqi deputy PM also discussed the political and economic situation in Iraq with the UK governmental officials.

PUKmedia :: English - Barham Salih calls on Britain to use its Influence to Prevent Turkey from attacking Kurdistan Region

Comment: KRG Seeks No Conflict with Turkey

Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan is asking his country’s parliament this week to unanimously approve a "mobilization" against the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK), an action that he and other Turkish leaders have signaled could include a Turkish military attack on the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Such an attack would represent the gravest challenge to Iraq since our liberation from Saddam Hussein in 2003 and would jeopardize, perhaps fatally, the success of the American mission in Iraq.

The Kurdistan Region is Iraq’s safest and most secure. But we may soon pay a heavy price for the actions of the PKK in Turkey, and for a House Foreign Affairs Committee vote about Armenia in the U.S. – neither of which have anything to do with the Kurds of Iraq or the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG.)

The KRG seeks no conflict with Turkey. Quite the opposite: the KRG considers friendly relations with Turkey its top priority. We consider the Turkish people as close friends and neighbors with whom we have much in common. Turkish trade and investment has been instrumental to our region's economic growth. We are interested in pursuing stronger ties through direct dialogue with Ankara on any and all issues of common interest. Any problems or disagreements should be solved through diplomacy and dialogue, not threats of military force.

We condemn the killing of innocent people and we do not believe that violence ever solves problems. The KRG has supported U.S. mediation efforts with Iraq and Turkey about the PKK, and has encouraged efforts toward a comprehensive political solution to the problem of the PKK, which cannot be solved solely through military means.

The KRG does not and will not support the de-stabilization of Turkey or any of our neighbors. We respect and practice the principle of noninterference in the affairs of others, and expect the same in return. In that context, the Iranian intimidation and shelling of villages and towns along our eastern border must also stop. As with Turkey, we seek no confrontation with Iran. Since 1991, we have proven to Turkey, Iran and all of Iraq's neighbors that the Kurds are a stabilizing factor in Iraq and the Middle East.

The stakes could not be higher for Iraq, and for the peace and prosperity of the Kurdistan Region, which has proven itself the model and gateway for a new Iraq. The Kurds are America's most loyal and trusted allies in pursuit of an independent, democratic and federal Iraq. The current crisis on our borders comes at an especially inopportune and sensitive time with regard to on-going efforts in Iraq toward national reconciliation. This is very much a work in progress, but there is progress.

There is an emerging consensus among Iraqi politicians about federalism, which is Iraq's constitutionally mandated form of government. KRG President Masoud Barzani has called for a conference in Erbil among Iraq's political leaders to discuss how to implement a federal system of governance in our country. The diversity of Iraqi society is a source of strength, not division. Federalism has worked around the world – in the United States, the United Arab Emirates, and in many other countries. It should be seen as the solution, rather than the problem, for the deep governance challenges in Iraq. Federalism is not "partition," as some have misrepresented it. We appreciate those in the U.S. Senate who understand and have recognized the reality of a federal Iraq through an amendment to the U.S. Defense Authorization bill.

Some neighboring countries see the shadow of independence falling across all that we do in the Kurdistan Region. When the Iraqi constitution was drafted four years ago, the Kurdistan Region’s leadership made a firm decision to remain part of Iraq. De****e the national tragedy that has befallen much of the rest of Iraq, we remain committed to that course of action today. We believe today that our future is best secured by becoming an active participant in a federal, democratic and secular Iraq.

Falah Mustafa Bakir is the Head of the Department of Foreign Relations, with Ministerial rank, in the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq.

PUKmedia :: English - Comment: KRG Seeks No Conflict with Turkey

Some troops out of Iraq within 60 days - Hillary Clinton

U.S. Democratic Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, a leading candidate for the party's presidential nomination in next year's elections, has announced a move to develop a plan to withdraw troops from Iraq within 60 days of becoming president.

In an article written for the Foreign Affairs magazine, Clinton, however, said that specialized units" would be asked to stay behind to fight terrorists there and elsewhere in the region."

Mrs. Clinton said if elected she would begin bringing troops home within the first two months, redirect U.S. financial aid to help Iraqi citizens, "not propping up the Iraqi government," and replace military force in Iraq with "intensive diplomatic initiative" in the region.

The New York Democrat also stressed that all options would be on the table with respect to Iran policy, though she would use diplomacy as her first weapon.

She said troops left behind to control terrorism would also provide security for U.S. troops and other personnel in Iraq, and train and equip Iraqi security services "to keep order and promote stability in the country, but only to the extent that such training is actually working."

In the essay, she said she "will consider" leaving forces in the Kurdish area in northern Iraq to protect that region's relative peace and security.

Some troops out of Iraq within 60 days - Hillary Clinton | Iraq Updates

Iraq plea to Turkey over attack on Kurds

Iraq appealed to Turkey not to launch a cross-border attack on Kurdish insurgents yesterday as fears of renewed violence in the Middle East sent oil prices surging close to an all-time high.

Telegraph Talk: Oil prices surge as Turkey squares up to Iraq

Tareq Al-Hashemi, Iraq's vice-president, who was in Turkey for emergency talks, said diplomacy should be given a chance. "I hope that I will be able to convince Turkey on the issue," he said.

The Turkish parliament will vote today on whether to grant approval for the government of Tayyip Erdogan to authorise a cross-border raid into northern Iraq.

The target for Turkey's anger is the Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK, a Maoist revolutionary group that has been fighting for decades for an independent Kurdish homeland in south-eastern Turkey.

While the Iraqi government publicly condemns the PKK the threat of a large ground and air assault by Turkey on PKK positions in northern Iraq has the potential to spill over into wider violence.

Mr Erdogan indicated yesterday that he did not believe fighting was inevitable. This was not enough to reassure the oil markets, with prices reaching about $88 a barrel, two dollars below the record.

Iraq plea to Turkey over attack on Kurds - Telegraph

Ban advises Turkey not to raid Kurdish militants in northern Iraq

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon late Tuesday advised Turkey not to raid Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq because the situation in the region can not withstand more tension.

"Any measures by any country should not create any concerns. First of all, we are going through a very difficult and sensitive period in Iraq. We need full cooperation and support from the countries in the region," he told reporters in answer to a question.

He said the Turkish Government is going to host an international conference on the Iraqi situation in early November, "therefore I have full confidence and trust that each and every country in the region will act accordingly for peace and security in the region." The Turkish Parliament is expected to pass legislation today allowing Turkish troops to cross the border into northern Iraq to crush militants of the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party, known as the P.K.K., who have increased their attacks on Turkish troops across the border lately.

Asked what he thought of the CD he reportedly received from the Syrian authorities depicting the Israeli air attack on Syria in early September and why he did not send a copy to the Security Council, Ban said "we have not received any concrete evidence and concrete information. We need to get more clear information." Pressured further, he said "my answer is ... I will stop there."

Ban advises Turkey not to raid Kurdish militants in northern Iraq | Iraq Updates

Al Maliki sending team to defuse border crisis

Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki said yesterday he was dispatching a "high-level" political and security team to Turkey to try to defuse tensions on the Iraqi-Turkish border.

A statement by his office said the decision was made after Al Maliki met with senior aides to discuss the crisis over a possible Turkish military incursion into northern Iraq in pursuit of separatist Kurdish fighters.

It did not say when the Iraqi delegation would leave for Ankara, where Iraqi Vice-President Tariq Al Hashemi arrived earlier yesterday for talks with Turkish leaders over the border issue.

"The Iraqi government will send a high-level political and security delegation to Turkey to deal with the recent security developments on the two nations' common borders," said the statement, which came one day after Al Maliki announced he was prepared to hold urgent talks with the Turkish government over the issue.

"The Iraqi government ... reiterates its commitment to ban terrorist activities carried out by the Kurdistan Workers' Party against neighbouring Turkey."

Maliki, it said, "will not accept military solutions as a way of dealing [with issues] between the two countries even though we realise and understand the worries of our Turkish friends."

Al Maliki's office said the prime minister had stressed the importance of implementing an agreement between the Iraqi and Turkish governments signed last month to combat the PKK.

"The Iraqi government will try by all means to defuse the crisis with its neighbour Turkey and is concerned to maintain security and stability," it said.

Erdogan discounts incursion threats

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday that securing permission from parliament to launch a major attack on Kurdish separatists in northern Iraq did not necessarily mean a military incursion was imminent.

Instead, Erdogan said "we will act at the right time and under the right conditions".

Meanwhile, Iraq's Vice-President Tariq Al Hashemi arrived in Ankara yesterday in an apparent attempt to convince Turkey not to stage a cross-border offensive to fight separatist Kurdish rebels based in Iraq.

Al Hashemi, a Sunni Arab, was scheduled to meet with Erdogan and other senior officials.

The Turkish Parliament was expected to approve a motion today allowing the government to order a cross-border attack over the next year.
"The passage of the motion in Parliament does not mean that an operation will be carried out at once," Erdogan said yesterday.

"Turkey would act with common sense and determination when necessary and when the time is ripe." Erdogan called on Iraq and Iraqi Kurds to crack down on separatist rebels. He said the regional administration in northern Iraq should "build a thick wall between itself and terrorist organisations."

Erdogan said any action would only target the rebels and Turkey would respect Iraq's territorial integrity. Washington has urged Nato-ally Turkey not to enter Iraq, fearing that unilateral Turkish military action could destabilise the autonomous Kurdish region in the north which is one of the country's few relatively stable areas.

Al Maliki sending team to defuse border crisis | Iraq Updates

Arbil rejects Turkish demands

An Iraqi Kurdish minister has rejected Turkey's demands to send Iraqi troops from Baghdad to the north of the country over rebel activities.
Amid increasing tension between Ankara and Baghdad over Kurdish rebel activities, Mohammad Ehsan told Gulf News: "The government of Kurdistan firmly opposes sending Iraqi forces from Baghdad to borders with Turkey as the Turkish government wants."

Ankara accuses Kurd held northern province of Iraq of offering refuge to Turkish Kurd rebels. "This is an internal issue and concerning the sovereignty of Iraq, and only the Iraqi government and its Kurdish regional counterpart will handle it," he added.

Sources in the Iraqi army told Gulf News that recent meeting between Iraqi Defence Minister Abdul Qader Mohammad Jasem and the Turkish ambassador in Baghdad focused on the Turkish government's request of sending Iraqi troops to the border to take the place of Kurdish Peshmerga elements which are accused by Ankara of sympathising with Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) elements.

Mohammad Ehsan said the government in Arbil supports talks between Turkey and the PKK leadership. PKK is listed as a terrorist group.
"Dialogue is the right way to solve the PKK problem and not by using excessive military power," the Kurdish minister said.

Elimination

The minister said that Ankara had informed the United States and the Iraqi government that it would not entertain any representatives of Kurdistan government to attend the Turkish-Iraqi talks.

The talks are aimed at resolving the military escalation along common borders between the two countries.

"Arbil is more than excited to talk directly with Turkey to find a vital solution to the PKK crisis," the minister said.

"I believe the goal of Turkish government is to escalate the situation on the Iraqi border under the pretext of eliminating the hostile activities by PKK elements," Aaron Kamiran, an Iraqi political analyst, told Gulf News.

"The goal is political because launching a Turkish military operation in the region would not achieve any results because of the difficult and mountainous terrain. Hence the Turks want to send Iraqi and non-Kurdish troops to the border and they will raise problems between Arbil and Baghdad, especially with Arbil's insistence on rejecting the Turkish proposal."

He added: "What is important for Turks is to make sure that Iraq Kurdistan region will not be an independent entity or a confederate state in the future. Besides the non-Kurdish forces in the region may pose a guarantee for Turkey in this region, especially since normalisation situations in Kirkuk is implemented hastily".

Arbil rejects Turkish demands | Iraq Updates

Iraqi PM calls cabinet meeting over Turkey threat
US appeals for Turkish restraint as Ankara seeks parliamentary approval for Iraq incursion.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has called an emergency cabinet meeting on Tuesday to discuss Turkish threats to launch an incursion into northern Iraq.

The meeting of his government's crisis cell comes as Ankara is set to seek parliamentary approval for military action in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region against bases of rebels of the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

It will discuss "the development on the Iraqi-Turkish border," Maliki's office said in a statement.

It added that Maliki had stressed the importance of implementing an agreement between the Iraqi and Turkish governments signed last month to combat the PKK.

The two countries, however, failed to agree on a clause allowing Turkish troops to engage in "hot pursuit" -- as they did regularly in the 1990s -- against rebels fleeing into Iraqi territory.

At the weekend, Turkish troops shelled several villages in northern Iraq, causing damage to houses but no casualties.

US appeals for Turkish restraint over Iraq raid

The White House Monday urged Turkey to "show restraint" as it moved closer to the possible incursion.

"We all have an interest in a stable Iraq and a desire to see the PKK (the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party) brought to justice," spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.

"But we urge the Turks to continue their discussions with us and the Iraqis, and to show restraint from any potentially destabilizing actions."

It was Washington's most explicit call for restraint since its ally Turkey began considering a quick military cross-border incursion into northern Iraq to crush PKK rebels using Iraq's Kurdish region as a base of operations.

The PKK has waged a bloody campaign for Kurdish self-rule in southeast Turkey since 1984 in a conflict that has claimed more than 37,000 lives.

Iraqi PM calls cabinet meeting over Turkey threat | Iraq Updates

US works on alternative to Turkey supply route to Iraq
US general says Iraq would take defense of sovereign seriously, but US forces would not intervene.

The US military is looking for a second route to supply troops in Iraq in case Turkey shuts its borders in reprisal for possible adoption of a US resolution on genocide in Armenia, a Pentagon official said Tuesday.

"There is planning going on," the official said. "It's just looking at what other options are available because there are serious operational impacts" if the Turks deny passage of US military supplies bound for Iraq.

Fearing the loss of Turkey's Incirclik airbase, which provides a crucial staging ground for US supplies headed to Iraq and Afghanistan, the White House has urged House speaker Nancy Pelosi not to bring the resolution to a vote.

The Pentagon says loss of Turkish cooperation could cause slight increases in delivery time for supplies and "may add an increased risk of insurgent attacks on deliveries."

If Turkey were to end access to its territory, "of course it will have an impact," said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman, "Is it insurmountable? I would tell you I have seen the United States military plans for just about every possible contingency that one can imagine," he said.

"But this is an important relationship," the spokesman stressed. "This is an important logistics hub for our operations in Iraq, and it is our strong desire to maintain that relationship to be able to get the kind of support we are currently receiving from Turkey."

Iraq would take defense of sovereign seriously: US general

Iraq would take the defense of its national sovereignty "quite seriously" in the event of a Turkish incursion, a senior US military official warned Tuesday.

Lieutenant General Carter Ham, however, said he did not mean to suggest that US forces in Iraq would help Iraqi forces defend their territory if Turkish troops moved across the border against Kurdish guerrillas.

Ham stressed that the United States was a close ally of Turkey and was intent on finding a diplomatic solution to the tensions.

But he said, "It is important to note that Iraq is a sovereign nation, and they would take their sovereignty and the defense of their territory quite seriously."

"If diplomacy fails we would have to assess that situation, and at a policy level to decide what is the best way for the United States government to deal with that situation," he said.

Ham expressed concern about the potential costs that could be incurred if Turkey were to restrict access, but said the US military was confident it could blunt the impact.

"If the flow of those materials would be disrupted it would have not only a significant effect on the US military operating in Iraq but it would have a significant effect commercially on Iraq as well," he said.

"There are likely to be some increased costs, some other implications for that. And obviously we would prefer to maintain the access that we have."
Ham said the US military was confident it can blunt the impact.

But he said, "There is likely to be some increased costs, some other implications for that. And obviously we would prefer to maintain the access that we have."

Oil prices strike new highs amid Turkey saber-rattling

Oil prices hit new record highs Tuesday amid heightened concerns about the potential Turkish incursion into oil-rich northern Iraq to attack Kurdish rebels.

New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in November, closed above 87 dollars per barrel for the first time after striking a record 88.20 dollars in intraday trading.

The benchmark New York contract gained 1.48 dollars to settle at a record 87.61 dollars. On Monday it jumped more than two dollars a barrel.

In London, Brent North Sea crude for November advanced 1.41 dollars to settle at 84.16 dollars, after earlier hitting an all-time high of 84.49 dollars during the session.

Oil prices surged as investors fixated on Turkey, where the parliament was expected to approve a government motion to allow cross-border raids into Iraq for one year to root out the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

US works on alternative to Turkey supply route to Iraq | Iraq Updates

House Chides U.S. Officials on Iraqi Corruption

WASHINGTON - The U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to rebuke the Bush administration for allegedly hiding information about the extent of corruption in Iraq.

The nonbinding resolution said it was "an abuse" for the Bush administration to withhold broad government assessments of corruption in Iraq's government from the U.S. public, especially by retroactively classifying some reports on the subject after some of the material appeared on the Internet.

The measure passed 395-21 after some Republicans who charged it was partisan nonetheless voted for it rather than trying to defend the actions of the State Department, the main actor in the events.

"We must stop the pattern of dissembling and the misuse of classified information," Rep. Henry Waxman, a California Democrat and the sponsor, told the House.

Earlier this month, an Iraqi investigating judge told Waxman's Oversight and Government Reform Committee that corruption was rampant in the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who the judge said had shielded relatives from investigation.

With U.S. President George W. Bush asking for ever more money for the Iraq war, the "administration is not being honest about the level of corruption in the Maliki government," Waxman said.

The State Department denies it has covered up corruption in Iraq to protect Maliki's fragile government. Corruption is a "pernicious, endemic" problem in Iraq, State Department Iraq coordinator David Satterfield said earlier this week.

Some Republicans charged the resolution was part of the House Democrats' push to embarrass the Bush administration on Iraq because Congress has not been able to muster enough votes for legislation dictating a change in policy or a troop pullout there.

But Rep. Tom Davis, the ranking Republican on Waxman's committee, announced during debate that he was voting for it with reservations, because he shared Waxman's concerns about corruption in IraqDavis said. and had his doubts about whether the State Department should have retroactively classified some reports on the problem. "It's probably counterproductive to try to put that genie back in the bottle,"

The State Department has come under increasing criticism from the Democratic-controlled Congress on this issue and also over the conduct of its lead security contractor, Blackwater.

Opponents of the legislation, such as Rep. Duncan Hunter, a California Republican, noted that State Department officials had volunteered to discuss Iraqi corruption in a closed-door hearing of Waxman's committee, but Waxman had refused.

PUKmedia :: English - House Chides U.S. Officials on Iraqi Corruption