Remember those poor Kurds caught between Iraq and a hard place.
US snubs Kurds as it negotiates Turkey’s role in war
December 10, 2002
The United States has blacklisted today the Kurdistan Freedom and Democracy Congress (KADEK) as a terrorist organization. As a result, any US financial assets held by KADEK, a Kurdish opposition group operating in Turkey, will be frozen.
The financial sanctions were imposed on the group after the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) determined that KADEK was the latest aliases used by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), in an effort to evade Turkish persecution and international sanctions.
Seeking to secure Turkey’s support for an imminent military strike against Iraq, the US has recently put its weight behind a much-needed $35 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan to Turkey. A key member in the 1991 Gulf War coalition, the Muslim NATO-ally is also being considered by the Bush administration for an $800 million Blackhawk helicopters sale deal.
In addition, Tayyip Erdogan, the head of Turkey’s leading Justice and Development Party (AKP), will be received today, December 10, for a high-profile meeting with US President George W. Bush.
Turkey has ended last week the emergency rule imposed on two of its predominantly-Kurd provinces, in an effort to advance its drive to join the European Union (EU). Turkey declared the state-of-emergency in 1987 in response to the PKK’s violent campaign for independence, which cost 37,000 people their lives.
Most of the PKK’s rebels are currently encamped in northern Iraq, and the Turkish government is wary of a post-war scenario whereby these Kurdish separatists may campaign to follow a possible example of a new Kurdish state being carved out of Iraq.
To alleviate these fears, US Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz recently stated: "We repeatedly expressed our support for the territorial integrity of Iraq, our opposition to a Kurdish state in northern Iraq, our concerns and support for the Turkoman population of Iraq.” — (menareport.com)
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