Kirkuk, another Sarajevo?
Unsavoury alliance
How strong is the alliance between Israel and the Kurds? Omayma Abdel-Latif seeks some answers
weekly.ahram.org.eg
Excerpt:
Kurds, for their part, believe they know who is behind the leaks that form the basis of such reports. Osman points his finger at Turkish intelligence agencies that want to tarnish the image of the Kurdish people by portraying them as allies of Israel. "I think it is Turkey which maintains the strategic alliance with Israel, despite the Turkish prime minister's recent angry statements against Israel, I still believe that their alliance will survive the current tension because this is what the Turkish army wants," Osman said.
On Tuesday, Turkey's Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul warned the Kurds against "any attempt to control Kirkuk". Turkey, according to sources close to the government, is concerned about the news of the Israeli role in northern Iraq. Turkish press sources confirmed to the Weekly that the Turkish government had knowledge of an active Israeli role in the region for quite some time now. "The Turkish government had alarming information about the Israeli activities in northern Iraq," said Abdul-Hamid Bilici foreign editor for Zaman newspaper, an Islamist-oriented publication close to government circles.
Bilici further explained that part of the reason why the Israeli-Turkish relations were strained recently is due to Israeli involvement in northern Iraq. He also pointed out that the perception within government is that the American occupation of Iraq has helped the Israelis gain easy access to the region. Asked if Gul's warning to the Kurds could signal Turkey's readiness to intervene militarily in Iraq, Bilici refused to rule out the possibility. "There is a possibility that Turkey would intervene, because one of the key Turkish policy principles is that Iraqi oil should not be controlled by one ethnic group but that all Iraqis should share it. Any attempt to change the situation in Kirkuk will be met by a strong Turkish reaction," explained Bilici.
Hersh's article came shortly after Arab press published reports of the continuous attempts by Kurds to evacuate Arab residents in Kirkuk. The London-based Al-Hayat newspaper reported last week about incidents of Arab residents of Kirkuk being driven out of their homes. Kurds say they were reclaiming property they were forced to leave two decades ago by Saddam Hussein's regime. Al-Kafae said that reports of mass deportations were exaggerated. He explained that such cases were isolated incidents. The situation on the ground, however, was not getting any better.
This prompted the new Iraqi president to visit the city in order to clam fears after Turkey warned on Tuesday that it retains the right to protect Turkomans in Iraq and that it cannot remain silent in the face of Kurdish attempts to control Kirkuk. Al-Yawar expressed his firm opposition to any change of the ethnic make-up of the city. "Kirkuk is a mini-Iraq," said Al-Yawar, "and the success of the new government will depend on restoring stability to Kirkuk and addressing the ethnic problem."
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