MOSCOW, (Nov. 15) IPS - Despite some recent setbacks, the Kurds still hope to get a
measure of support from Russia, even though many analysts believe that the Kremlin will
not involve itself in Kurdish struggles anytime soon.

"We urge Russia to recognize Kurdish autonomy within the frame(work) of (an) Iraqi state,"
says Khoshawi Babakr, representative of the Kurdish Democratic Party in Russian and CIS.
Babakr says Moscow should have a say in settling the Kurdish issue, adding that the

Iraq-based Kurdish Democratic Party has maintained contacts with the Russian officials.
According to Babakr, when Middle East expert Yevgeny Primakov was Russian Prime
Minister two years ago, he agreed to receive two politburo members of the Kurdish
Democratic Party.

However, Babakr concedes that these days his party has no official ties with the Russian
officials, except occasional contacts with the opposition members of the Russian parliament.

The Russian diplomacy underestimates Kurdish factor in the Middle East politics, argues
Babakr, adding that more than 3.5 million people now live in the Kurdish autonomy in
Northern Iraq.

Moreover, Moscow has been lobbying for lifting the U.N. sanctions against Iraq, which
prohibit oil exports except for a limited amount of crude oil that can be sold to fund
humanitarian supplies.

The U.N. oil-for-food accord allows sanctions-hit Iraq to export billions dollars' worth of oil
to finance imports of food and medical supplies.

According to Babakr, the Kurdish autonomy in Northern Iraq receives nearly one-fifth of
oil-for-food revenues, and Kurdish share could amount to $2 billion in 2000.

Furthermore, Russia has long been critical of the U.S. and British occasional missile strikes
against Iraq designed to enforce no-fly zones. American and British pilots have been
patrolling the skies over northern and Iraq since shortly after the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

The flight bans were imposed in an effort to stop Iraqi forces from attacking the Kurds in the
north. Babakr argues that the Iraqi Kurds will need "security guarantees" in the future.

The Kurdish factions in Northern Iraq have managed to settle their differences, notably in
the wake of a peace deal between Massoud Barzani, leader of the Kurdish Democratic Party,
and Jalal Talabani, leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurds.

They forged a peace accord on Sept. 17, 1998 designed to resolve long-standing differences
and bring about reconciliation in Iraqi Kurdistan.

The Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, has viewed the deal as a yet another attempt by the
U.S. and Turkey to undermine Kurdish unity and divide northern and southern Kurds.
There are some 800,000 Kurdish refugees in the former Soviet states, many of them in
Armenia, which borders eastern Turkey. Roughly 150,000 Kurds are living in Russia now,
including those 5,000 in Moscow.

The Russian angle of the Kurdish issue was highlighted two years ago, when fugitive
Kurdish guerrilla leader Abdullah Ocalan briefly found refuge in Moscow.
But bowing to Ankara's pressure, Moscow finally refused asylum to Ocalan, who was
eventually apprehended and sentenced in Turkey.

Ocalan, known as "Apo" founded the guerrillas group in the 1970s and led it through a
separatist campaign in southeastern Turkey for over 14 years that has cost tens of thousands
of lives.

Some 30,000 people reportedly have been killed since the PKK began its armed campaign
for Kurdish self-rule in 1984.
The PKK has declared a unilateral cease-fire, while Turkey insisted it had defeated the
militants. Ocalan's cause is not universally supported, even among Kurds themselves.

Analysts argue that the Kurdish issue poses a delicate dilemma for the Kremlin, which is
keen to maintain Russia's territorial integrity and maintain normal ties with its important
trade partner, Turkey.

On the other hand, Ankara was believed to give mute support to Chechen separatist, thus
tempting Russian nationalists to retaliate by supporting the PKK.

Turkey's aggressive policy in Central Asia and the Caucasus demonstrated that Russians and
Kurds could have common interests, but the Kremlin was always late to realize it, according
to Makhir Walat, representative of National Liberation Front of Kurdistan in CIS and
Central Europe.

Nonetheless, some nationalist Russian politicians express a measure of support to PKK's
cause. The violent campaign against the Kurdish liberation movement amounts to genocide,
as tens of thousand of Kurds have died since 1984, and between 1919 and 1940 some 2
million Kurds were killed, according to Alexei Mitrofanov, deputy of the State Duma, the
lower chamber of Russian parliament.

The U.N. has to set up a special commission to investigate Turkish genocide against the
Kurds, argued Mitrofanov, a prominent member of Russian ultra-nationalist
Liberal-Democratic party, headed by maverick politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky.

Kurdish activists also argue that Russia, as a permanent member of the U.N. Security
Council, could initiate a discussion of peaceful settlement of the Kurdish issue at the U.N.
General Assembly.

However, Moscow's failure to save Ocalan seemed to have caused disillusionment, notably
among Turkey's 12 million Kurds.
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The Kurdistan Observer
www.kurdistanobserver.com

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