KDP and Turkish military hold meetings to discuss fight against PKK 

Turkish delegation to ease concerns of KDP 
TDN
July 11, 2001
ILNUR CEVIK

A Turkish Foreign Ministry delegation visited Salahaddin in northern Iraq to meet
Masoud Barzani and his Kurdistan Democracy Party (KDP) officials to dispel
ongoing rumors that there is a rift between the Iraqi Kurdish administration and
Ankara. 

Turkish officials told the Turkish Daily News that the visit was designed to reassure
the KDP once again that Turkey is a friend of the KDP no matter what rumors were
being spread in Ankara. KDP sources have said this is a welcome diplomatic step
from Ankara. 

Some Turkish newspapers have been claiming lately that relations between Ankara
and the KDP are at an all time low for a number of reasons. 

They say the lack of spring operations against Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)
militants in northern Iraq, the negative approach of the KDP to a proposed second
border gate in Habur between Turkey and Iraq bypassing the KDP authority, the
alleged lack of cooperation on the revitalization of the Ankara peace process and
Barzani's refusal to come to Ankara to meet his arch-rival Jalal Talabani have created
a rift between Ankara and the KDP. 

Sources in northern Iraq told the TDN that the KDP and Ankara have closely
collaborated in the fight against the PKK and many young soldiers and peshmerga
fighters have lost their lives in the process, "whilst others not only condoned the PKK
but assisted them with logistics and sanctuary." The sources said today that thanks to
the KDP's cooperation "confirmed by Turkish security experts" the PKK are defeated
and are less of a danger militarily than they were five or ten years ago. 

Sources said there seems to be differences of opinion between KDP peshmerga
commanders and Turkish generals on how to handle the small pockets of PKK
militants remaining in northern Iraq. According to local reports in southeastern Turkey
there were security meetings between both sides last week in the border town of
Silopi and both sides reached a series of agreements on how to deal with the PKK. 

KDP officials say the PKK militants are now spread across the region in small groups
and it is very hard to hunt them down due to the terrain. 

As to the second border gate KDP officials said that under normal conditions when
Baghdad had control of the whole of the country it was normal for Iraq and Turkey to
deal directly on trade and other border matters. But as there is a unique situation
where Iraq is not controlling the northern parts of the country and the area's
administration is shared by the KDP and Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan
(PUK) the respective administrations have to regulate trade and transportation in the
region. 

The western powers as well as Turkey realize this reality and thus deal with Barzani, a
KDP source said. He said Barzani's authority in the north controlling the 12 kilometers
gap between Turkey and Iraqi controlled areas is a reality and has to be respected. 

The KDP source also stressed that Barzani has guaranteed the security of the
Turkish-Iraqi pipeline and the safety of the trade route between Turkey and Iraq, thus it
is out of the question for a second border gate to be opened in Habur without
consultations with the KDP. 

Since 1994 the KDP and the PUK were involved in an internal dispute leading to
major confrontations. In October 1996, a cease-fire was brokered by the United
States, and the Turkish and British governments, known as the Ankara process, with
several meetings held with high level diplomats from all three cosponsors and KDP
and PUK senior officials at Ankara Palace. A year later the PUK reportedly violated
the cease-fire and was officially condemned by the cosponsors. 

The KDP moved against the PUK and the PKK positions and recaptured the
positions taken earlier by them. Another cease fire was declared. The situation of no
war no peace prevailed for almost a year. In September 1998, both leaders, Barzani
and Talabani, were invited to Washington and signed an agreement known as the
Washington agreement under the supervision of U.S. Secretary of State Madeline
Albright. The agreement was regarded as a confirmation of the Ankara process. 

A KDP source said that since then "certain positive steps are being taken by both
sides and joint commissions are formed for various issues, POWs are released,
some IDPs have returned to their places of origin, financial matters are resolved to a
large extent, freedom of movement and trade is also resolved. ... a High Coordination
Committee is formed from key leadership members from both sides and so far have
met on regular basis. However, the issue of joint parliament meeting and new
elections is not resolved yet." 

Observers here said Ankara feels it is left out of the recent positive developments
inside northern Iraq by both Kurdistan groups. Turkish officials are irked by regular
visits of U.S. and U.K. diplomats which it feels is contributing to such progress and
Ankara is no longer a player in the peace process. 

Ankara - Turkish Daily News