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

Dissimilarity in the Translation of the Turkish-Iraqi Security Agreement

Mohammed Haj Himud, Iraq’s Undersecretary of State disclosed dissimilarity in the Turkish and Arabic texts of an article of the security agreement signed by the two countries last September.

Himud announced that the difference is about the article which allows Turkish forces to enter Iraqi soil, while Undersecretary of Interior, Aidn Qadir stressed that the article has been originally removed from the agreement and has not been signed without approaching high ranking authorities of the two countries.

Haj Himud said “the agreement in its current state creates embracement for the Iraqi government. There are two texts now of the same agreement, one explaining the process of entering the Iraqi soil in a Turkish point of view and another from Iraq’s point of view which has created confusion in the understanding of both sides.”

He also added that “the Turkish text allows the Turkish forces to enter Iraqi soil and then informing the Iraqi government, while the Iraqi text says that Turkish forces enter Iraq after getting permission from the Iraqi government.”

PUKmedia :: English - Dissimilarity in the Translation of the Turkish-Iraqi Security Agreement

Pentagon Urges Turkey Not to Move against Kurdish Guerrillas in Iraq

A senior Pentagon official says U.S. forces in Iraq are busy fighting various insurgents and terrorists, and cannot directly address Kurdish terrorists based in Northern Iraq, who launch attacks on Turkey. At the same time, the official urged Turkey not to take military action against the Kurdish group. VOA's AlPessin reports from the Pentagon.

Lawmakers applaud PM Erdogan's deputy Cemil Cicek as the Parliament debates a government motion on a military operation against Kurdish rebels based in northern Iraq, 17 Oct. 2007

Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell says Iraq is already dealing with what he called "at least two meddlesome neighbors," which he identified as Iran and Syria.

"As we deal with those meddlesome neighbors on either side of Iraq, we do not think this is the time to open up a potential third front in which you then have military action coming over from our good friends the Turks into what is now, arguably, the most stable region of Iraq," he said.

On Wednesday, Turkey's parliament authorized the government to take military action against the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), a group labeled a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department. But the Pentagon press secretary says he does not expect Turkey to take any immediate action.

"The Turks are clearly frustrated," he added. "They're clearly angry. But I also do not think there is a great of appetite to take this next step. It would be an enormous step. It would have enormous implications, not just for us but for the Turks. And I don't think there is any rush to war on the part of the Turks."

Many analysts have come to a similar conclusion, noting that previous Turkish military incursions into Northern Iraq have had little impact on the insurgents, partly due to the very rugged terrain where they hide.

The Pentagon's Geoff Morrell says U.S. forces are also not planning any action against the Kurdish insurgents.

"I think we'd like to end all threats to everyone in Iraq, but there's only so much you can do at one time," he explained. "And we certainly have our hands full dealing with Al-Qaida, dealing with, sort of, extreme elements of Jesh al-Mahdi [the Mahdi militia], dealing with other terrorist elements and insurgents within Iraq."

Morrell says he has not seen any intelligence reports that suggest Turkey is preparing for an attack inside Iraq. And he says the United States is encouraging a diplomatic approach to solving the problem.

President Bush made similar comments earlier Wednesday. The president also referred to a Turkish troop presence in Northern Iraq. Morrell says several thousand Turkish troops have been in Iraq since the 1990s, well before the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. He says those troops mostly stay on their base and gather what information they can about the guerrillas' activities. He says all their movements are coordinated with U.S. and Iraqi forces, and with the Kurdish regional government in Northern Iraq.

PUKmedia :: English - Pentagon Urges Turkey Not to Move against Kurdish Guerrillas in Iraq

US looks for Alternative Supply links to Iraq

The United States is looking for alternative ways to supply its troops in Iraq in case Turkey closes its borders in protest at a perceived snub by Washington.

A Pentagon official said: "There is planning going on," adding that there would be "serious operational impacts" if the Turks chose to obstruct US equipment.

The US fears that the Turks could cut access to Incirclik air base, through which it sends materiel for Iraq and Afghanistan, after Congressmen accused the Ottoman Empire, the forerunner of modern Turkey, of the genocide of Armenians in 1915.

President George W Bush yesterday called on the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives to drop the motion.

"One thing Congress should not be doing is sorting out the historical record of the Ottoman Empire. It has more important work to do than antagonise a democratic ally in the Muslim world," he said.

Mr. Bush also urged Turkey not to launch an offensive against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq.

He said talks between Washington, Ankara and Baghdad were continuing to try to calm the situation.

PUKmedia :: English - US looks for Alternative Supply links to Iraq

Iraq scrambles to head off threat

Baghdad is "absolutely determined" to end the presence of Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki told his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan over the telephone yesterday, the Anatolia news agency reported.

Al Maliki said his government "is absolutely determined to end the activities and the presence of the PKK terrorist organisation on Iraqi territory," the semi-official agency said, quoting unidentified sources.

He said he had given orders to the autonomous Kurdish administration in northern Iraq to take action against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), listed as a terrorist group by Ankara and much of the international community, Anatolia reported.

Al Maliki asked for "a new opportunity" to resolve the issue through diplomatic means and proposed talks, according to Anatolia. Erdogan responded that he was willing to meet Iraqi officials to discuss the issue, but warned that Ankara cannot tolerate "further waste of time," the agency reported.

Talabani's Assurance

In Paris, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani urged Turkey not to launch an attack against Kurdish rebels in Iraq and said the government in Baghdad was ready to work with Ankara and Washington to resolve the problem.

"We hope the wisdom of our friend Prime Minister Erdogan will be so active that there will be no military intervention," Talabani, speaking in English, told reporters after meeting French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, who also met Talabani said France was firmly opposed to any outside intervention. "We hope that the current difference between Iraq and Turkey is resolved through diplomacy," he said.

Talabani said Iraq wanted to find a peaceful solution to the crisis. "We are ready to cooperate with the Turkish authorities and we are for activating the committee formed by America, Turkey and Iraq to solve this problem."

He added that Iraq was opposed to what Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) insurgents were doing and called on them to lay down their arms.
Meanwhile, the United States and other Western allies, as well as Baghdad, urged Turkey to refrain from military action.

Nato spokesman James Appathurai said the alliance viewed the PKK as a terrorist group. But he said Ankara had not made any request for Nato to invoke a clause in its treaty calling on nations to come to the aid of an ally under attack, nor had it requested military help.

The European Commission reiterated it hoped Turkey would respect Iraq's territorial integrity.

Facts on Kurdistan Workers Party

Abdullah Ocalan founded the party in 1974 and it was formally named the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in 1978, a Marxist-Leninist insurgent group fighting for an independent Kurdish state.

- It earned a reputation for ruthlessness by killing members of rival groups, Kurdish "aga" landlords and pro-government tribesmen.

Fight for a homeland

- The PKK took up arms against Turkey in 1984 with the aim of creating an ethnic homeland in the southeast. More than 30,000 have been killed in the conflict.

--Ocalan was captured and sentenced to death by a Turkish court in 1999, but the sentence was reduced to life imprisonment in October 2002 after Turkey abolished the death penalty.

- Fighting dwindled after Ocalan's capture and it also led to a ceasefire and the withdrawal of rebel fighters from Turkey.

A political struggle

--Ocalan, after his capture, emphasised the importance of winning rights for the Kurds through political rather than armed struggle. That encouraged the rebels to establish a new political wing known as KONGRA-GEL in November 2003.

Violence again

--In June 2004, the PKK announced the end of its ceasefire and told investors and tourists to stay away from Turkey.

--Some 3,000 PKK fighters are based in northern Iraq and launch attacks on security and civilian targets in Turkish territory.

Iraq scrambles to head off threat | Iraq Updates

It's up to PKK to Start a Military Operation

Permission is granted. Bayonets are in place. All the same, there’s one thing that our friends and allies should know. Military operation is not a priority for Turkish soldiers. It is only the PKK sabotage that can force Turkey to intervene. It is not to Ankara that Baghdad and Washington should address themselves to, but to the Qandil mountain administration.

Turkey has sent a very powerful message to the international public opinion: The Parliament's approval for incursion into north Iraq to chase the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) is a clear sign of the country's determination to fight the PKK terror. It would be a grave mistake for our allies and neighbors to say, “Turkey approved the motion as a warning and to increase its bargaining power. It has no intention to use it.” It is true that Turkey is not particularly eager to mount a cross-border operation to north Iraq. Neither the government nor the armed forces wish to do that. A military operation is the least of the scenarios before them. However, the decision to actually launch a military operation will depend largely on future PKK terror attacks, as well as the amount of pressure the public puts on the government and the military. If the PKK succeeds in provoking the Turkish people into the squares through a series of major sabotage acts, neither the government nor the military will be able to take the resulting pressure. A military operation will then become imperative, de****e the awareness of the harm that it could do to our long-term relations and de****e the knowledge that it will never end PKK terror for good. I, like many others, believe that the PKK is trying to drag Turkey into the north Iraqi ''swamp,'' causing a rift in Turkish-American relations. A military operation will also give the PKK the excuse to push the Iraqi people into action, an action that it could then spread to the southeast. That is why I expect the PKK to initiate some major terror acts as a sequel to the incursion approval. The provocation will not end. Viewed from this angle, it becomes obvious that it is to the PKK, and not to Ankara, that Washington and the north Iraq administration should be telling to “stop.” There's nothing more they can say to Turkey. However, there is a lot more they can say to the PKK. It is now time for northern Iraq and the Bush administration to choose between Turkey and the PKK. This choice will indicate to the PKK what they can and cannot do in the future. It is time for our friends and allies to face the facts.

PUKmedia :: English - It's up to PKK to Start a Military Operation

Erdoghan: if KRG won’t Submit 3 PKK Leaders, we will launch Cross-Border Operation into Kurdistan

Several Turkish newspapers today announced that Turkey is ready to to give up its scheduled cross-border operation into Kurdistan region if Iraq to repatriate 3 PKK leaders to Turkey.

“ It is scheduled that during the meeting of PM Erdoghan with President G.W. Bush on next November , Turkish PM to ask Bush to use pressures on KRG to repatriate 3 PKK leaders to Turkey ,including Murad Qarailan ,Jamil Baik ,Zuber Aidar, otherwise Turkish PM will orders starting military incursion into Kurdistan region .” Milliyet newspaper reported.

Turkish PM has asked Iraqi vice-president, Tariq al-Hashimi the same demand, also according to Milliyet newspaper.

On the other hand, local citizens of Shernakh in south east of Turkey, which is considered as the heart zone of Turkey-PKK conflict, anxiously observe the situation and see that any incursion into Kurdistan region will have huge damages to them.

PUKmedia :: English - Erdoghan: if KRG won’t Submit 3 PKK Leaders, we will launch Cross-Border Operation into Kurdistan

Iraqi parliament resumes session Saturday by discussing Turkish threats

Baghdad, Oct 18, (VOI) - The parliament's leadership has decided to resume parliament's session on Saturday after the Eid al-Fitr, during which a number of issues will be discussed, mainly the Turkish threats to invade northern Iraq to pursue elements of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a media source from the parliament said on Thursday.

"The parliament's Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani decided to resume sessions next Saturday to discuss a number of issues, mainly the Turkish threats to invade northern Iraq," the source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).

"Saturday's session is expected to attract a large number of lawmakers from different parliamentarian blocs to discuss the Iraqi-Turkish crisis," the source also said, noting that the parliament is likely to issue an important decision within this context.

The Turkish parliament on Wednesday voted to allow military strikes against Kurdish separatists in northern Iraq, de****e stiff U.S. opposition and appeals from Baghdad for time to purge the rebels.

Only 19 Turkish lawmakers out of the 555 parliament members voted against the bill, which permitted any Turkish incursion into northern Iraq to pursue fighters allegedly using mountain areas in northern Iraq as a base to attack Turkish targets.

The Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan attended the parliamentary session.

The motion came at a time that both Iraq and the U.S. urged Turkey to show self-restraint and to seek a peaceful means of resolving the crisis.
Last week, the Turkish government sought a mandate from the parliament to pursue the PKK's fighters inside the Iraqi territories after 13 Turkish soldiers were ambushed by PKK in southeastern Turkey.

Erdogan however, said that the mandate did not mean an imminent incursion into northern Iraq, expressing hope that "the military action be avoided."

For his part, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said in a phone call with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday that he understands Turkey's concerns about the Kurdistan Workers Party's (PKK) activities and reiterated his government's keenness to prevent Kurdish separatists' operations from being launched from within Iraqi territories.

Aswat Aliraq

President Vladimir Putin suggests US campaign against Iraq is 'pointless' and for oil wealth

President Vladimir Putin, in his latest jab at Washington, suggested Thursday that the U.S. military campaign in Iraq was a ''pointless'' battle against the Iraqi people, aimed in part at seizing the country's oil reserves.

Putin was responding to one of dozens of questions from the public in an annual televised Q&A session - his sixth since taking office in 2000.
The event broadcast live on state-controlled TV channels and radio stations consisted largely of people from around the country quizzing Putin mainly on bread-and-butter issues, like pensions, public workers' salaries and school funding.

But a mechanic from the Siberian city of Novosibirsk asked Putin about comments he said were made some years ago by former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who suggested that Siberia had too many natural resources to belong to one country.

''I know that some politicians play with such ideas in their heads. This, in my view, is the sort of political erotica that might satisfy a person but hardly leads to a positive result,'' Putin said.

''The best example of that are the events in Iraq - a small country that can hardly defend itself and which possesses huge oil reserves. And we see what's going on there. They've learned to shoot there, but they are not managing to bring order,'' he said.

''One can wipe off a political map some tyrannical regime ... but it's absolutely pointless to fight with a people,'' he said. ''Russia, thank God, isn't Iraq. It has enough strength and power to defend itself and its interests, both on its territory and in other parts of the world.''

Putin said that the U.S. campaign was aimed at seizing control of Iraq's oil wealth, and said a concrete date must be set for the withdrawal of U.S. troops.

''I believe one of the goals is to establish control of the country's oil reserves,'' he said.

Unless a date for pulling out is set, Putin said, ''the Iraqi leadership, feeling (safe) under the reliable American umbrella, will not hurry to develop its own armed and law enforcement forces.''

In recent months, Putin has increasingly confronted U.S. foreign policy, deepening the chill between Washington and Moscow. Among other things, he has questioned U.S. plans for missile defense in Europe and the U.S. push for sanctions against Iran for its nuclear programs.

On Thursday Putin discussed his recent trip to Iran, which is under increasing Western pressure and scrutiny over its nuclear program.

Threats against Iran, he said, are ''harmful for international relations because dialogue with states ... is always more promising.''

The Russian leader opened the session with a deft display of arcane statistics, reeling off a string of numbers to show the improvement in Russia's economy during his seven years in office. Much of the economic growth has been due to high world oil prices. He also said the country's birth rate was the highest it has been in 16 years and the death rate the lowest since 1999.

A sampling of questions listed on a Web site set up by the broadcasters before the Q&A session ranged from concerns about salaries for public sector workers to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi to environmental worries.

Putin, who is widely popular among Russians for the stability and relative prosperity during his regime, has sought to use phone-ins along with tightly choreographed, lavish television coverage to project the image of a leader responding directly to voters' concerns.

He said Thursday that Russia will have a different president next year, reaffirming his plans to step aside but leaving unclear what exact role he might have.

With just two months remaining before crucial parliamentary elections - and five before presidential elections - speculation has mounted about Putin's plans once his second, consecutive term ends in March.

''In 2008, in the Kremlin there will be a different person,'' Putin said. He also said he expected no radical policy changes from his successor, adding that the next president should ''keep the stable course of our nation and continuity in realizing the plans that have been devised in recent years.''

Santa Barbara News-Press

Iraq Stops Pumping Crude Oil to Turkey Because Storage Is Full

Iraq, holder of the world's third- biggest oil reserves, has stopped pumping crude to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan because storage there is full.

Iraq stopped pumping its Kirkuk-grade crude to Turkey because it has no available storage capacity in Ceyhan, an Iraqi Oil Ministry official, who asked not to be identified for security reasons, said today in a telephone interview from Baghdad. There is currently a maximum 8 million barrels of Kirkuk crude stored in Ceyhan, the official said.

A vessel is due to be loaded today or tomorrow from Ceyhan which will remove some of the oil from storage, the official said. This may allow pumping to resume.

Iraq issued a tender to sell as much as 6 million barrels of Kirkuk-grade crude earlier this week. The oil will be loaded from Ceyhan from Oct. 22 to Nov. 2 in allotments of 1 million to 2 million barrels.

Saudi Arabia has the world's largest reserves of crude, followed by Iran. Iraq produced 2.08 million barrels of crude oil a day in September, according to Bloomberg estimates.

Bloomberg.com: Energy

U.S. claims advances in Iraq Reconstruction, Electricity, Medical Clinics nationwide

While Iraqis are unlikely to enjoy 24 hours a day of electrical power until 2013, they are getting about 15 hours on the average nationwide, far above expectations, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reports.

Progress in reconstruction extends also to health care, with 28 newly opened primary clinics, 12 of them in Baghdad, the capital, Brig. Gen. Michael Walsh, commander of the Corps' Gulf region division, reported Tuesday.

In Basra, he said construction of the first new ho****al in Iraq since the 1980s, a children's ho****al on a 13-acre (5.26-hectare) campus, is due to be completed next summer.

Walsh said the United States had contributed nearly $22 billion (€15.55 billion) toward Iraq's reconstruction and "every day we see successes in the U.S. government reconstruction program."

But he agreed with criticism by Iraqis that they do not have nearly enough electricity, partly because demand is growing,

"If they hit the switch and the lights don't come on, people are going to be unhappy," Walsh said. "They should be getting more power."

And yet, he said, before President Saddam Hussein was overthrown in a U.S.-led war in 2003, many parts of Iraq did not have more than four or six hours of power a day, although Baghdad had 22 to 24 hours.

That's been shifted now, Walsh said, with the people outside the capital getting about 20 hours of power a day and Baghdad residents, 10 to 12 hours.

"So if you were a Baghdadi used to 24 hours of power you would certainly be unhappy," Walsh said.

By the end of Sept. 30, he said, the Corps of Engineers had completed more than 4,000 of 4,600 planned projects.

In the oil sector, he said, $1.7 billion (€1.2 billion) worth of projects were completed by June. More than 95 percent of Iraq's economy is fueled from oil exports, he said.

Walsh said three key goals had been reached: 3,000 tons of liquefied petroleum gas capacity a day, 3 million barrels of crude oil capacity a day and 800 million standard cubic feet of natural gas a day.

And, he said, last year the Iraqi government put $10 billion aside from its oil revenue for reconstruction and "they are moving forward with that particular task."

"Every day we see successes in the U.S. government reconstruction program in Iraq, better essential services where in some places there were none," Walsh said. "And 75 percent of the country has twice as much power as they had before the war."

U.S. claims advances in Iraq reconstruction, electricity, medical clinics nationwide - International Herald Tribune