A new beginning

  Ibrahim Kalin

After several years of acute tensions, there is an accelerating rapprochement between Turkey and the Kurds of Iraq. This new policy comes as part of a new initiative by the ruling Justice and Development Party to find a lasting solution to Turkey's decades' old Kurdish issue. It is also an extension of the policy of zero-problems with neighbors, a policy Turkey has been pursuing with all of its neighbors including Syria, Greece and Armenia. While an improved state of relations between Turkey and the Iraqi Kurds is a welcome development, it also presents a number of challenges and opportunities for the future of Iraq, the Kurdish issue in the region, and Turkey's own process of democratization.

Turkey has historically been aware of the Kurdish issue in Iraq. Turgut Ozal (d. 1993), the eighth Turkish president, was the first highest-ranking Turkish leader to publicly welcome the Kurdish leaders of Iraq in Turkey in the early 1990s. As part of a policy of embracing all the Kurds in the region, Ozal developed warm relations with the two Kurdish leaders Jalal Talabani and Massoud Barzani to the point of giving them Turkish passports when Saddam Hussein cracked down on the Kurds in Iraq. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Kurds took refuge in Turkey when they were attacked by Saddam's forces in the 1980s and 1990s. Ozal largely succeeded in turning the Iraqi Kurds, the second largest Kurdish group in the Middle East, into an opportunity rather than a threat for Turkey.

The invasion of Iraq in 2003 was a turning point. Acting with a sense of triumph but also insecurity, the Iraqi Kurds took a hostile attitude toward Turkey, which refused to be part of George W. Bush's Iraq war. Some Kurdish circles interpreted Turkey's concerns over the territorial unity of Iraq as a refusal to recognize the Kurds' new gains in Iraq. The Bush administration followed policies that encouraged Iraqi Kurdish aspirations for independence but they turned out to have disastrous consequences for all Iraqis. By contrast, Turkey sees the disintegration of Iraq and the weakening of its central government as a major threat to all Iraqi groups including the Kurds. Furthermore, Turkey's security concerns over the terrorist activities of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in northern Iraq and the policy of inaction by Erbil until recently have further created mistrust between Turkey and the Iraqi Kurds. Finally, the row over the status of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk is another point of contention between Turkey and the Iraqi Kurds. But over the last two years, the Kirkuk issue has also caused major rifts between Baghdad and Erbil.

Turks and Iraqi Kurds are moving fast to address these issues through open diplomacy and dialogue. Several verbal gestures by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and President of the Kurdistan Regional Government Massoud Barzani were followed by the visit of the Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu together with the trade minister Zafer Caglayan to Erbil on October 31, 2009. The choice of the two ministers was not random: Turkey wants to engage the KRG through diplomacy and trade. The Iraqi Kurdish leaders express greater understanding of Turkey's security concerns over the PKK installments in northern Iraq. They have pledged to help Turkey evacuate the Mahmur camp, a refugee camp populated by about 12,000 Kurds from Turkey who had fled the country in the 1990s because of the fierce fighting between the PKK and the Turkish armed forces. The final status of Kirkuk remains a point of tension but it looks like Erbil realizes that a full annexation of Kirkuk to the KRG will create more problems than it will bring benefits to Iraqi Kurds.

The future of relations between Turkey and Iraqi Kurds will be determined by four principles that Turkey has outlined in its relations with all of its neighbors. The first principle is security for all. An insecure and unstable Middle East will only create further disenfranchisement and conflict in the region. A comprehensive regional security perspective is needed to avoid zero-sum games. This applies mutadis mutandis to Turkish-Iraqi Kurdish relations. The second principle is the territorial integrity of all countries in the region. Maps in the Middle East have been drawn and redrawn too many times to produce any lasting results. Any change in the map of Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Iran or any other country will only trigger further territorial conflicts. Iraq must maintain its territorial integrity with an effective political capital.

The third principle is economic integration. This is a key element for political stability and social harmony across the Middle East. Economic interdependence could be a safety valve against fantasy policies in the region. Turkey has already made some major strides in this venue. There are more than 400 Turkish companies doing business in the KRG and business continues to boom. Iraqi Kurds love Turkish products for both their quality and their political relevance. The fourth principle that will shape the relations between Turkey and Iraqi Kurds is the deepening of social and cultural relations among the peoples. The religious, historical and cultural ties between the Kurds of Turkey and Iraq as well as with the general Turkish public are an important asset for fostering a new social imagery in the region. The Kurdish broadcasting TV channel TRT 6, a publicly funded media outlet in Turkey, serves not only the Kurds of Turkey but also those of Iraq. Mullah Mustafa Barzani, the father of Massoud Barzani, is a household name among many Turkish Kurds who see him not only as a Kurdish leader but also as a spiritual guide.

The new rapprochement between Ankara and Erbil presents numerous opportunities. A strong and prosperous Iraq where Kurds and others exercise their cultural and political rights is of vital importance for peace and stability in the region. A Turkey that has made peace with its Kurds can further contribute to regional security and prosperity. Turkish and Iraqi Kurdish leaders seem to have finally realized the benefits of acting wisely.- Published 10/12/2009 © bitterlemons-international.org

Ibrahim Kalin, Ph. D., is a faculty member at the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University and chief advisor to the prime minister of Turkey.