Saturday, April 21, 2007

Oil-autonomy increase Turkey-Kurd friction

"The prime minister on Monday warned Iraqi Kurds against interfering in southeastern Turkey, where the Kurdish majority is fighting Turkish security forces, saying 'the price for them will be very high.'
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was responding to Massoud Barzani, leader of the Kurdish autonomous region in Iraq, who said Iraqi Kurds would retaliate for any Turkish interference in northern Iraq by stirring up trouble in southeastern Turkey.
. . . Turkey fears that any moves toward greater independence for Kurds in northern Iraq could incite Turkey's own estimated 14 million Kurds to outright rebellion.
Turkey is especially concerned about Barzani's bid to incorporate the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk into his semiautonomous region, fearing that Iraqi Kurds will use revenues from the city's oil wealth to fund a bid for independence.
. . . [T]he Iraqi government decided to implement a constitutional requirement to determine the status of Kirkuk . . . by the end of the year. The plan is expected to turn Kirkuk and its vast oil reserves over to Kurdish control, a step rejected by many of Iraq's Arabs and its Turkmen." [1]

"Kurdish boldness also comes at a critical time for Turkey, which is facing a growing threat in its own Kurdish region from separatist guerrillas raiding out of northern Iraq and has a presidential election coming up that could aggravate tensions between Islamist and secular Turks.
The fallout already has shaken relations between the United States and Turkey, a longtime ally increasingly frustrated that the overstretched American military in Iraq cannot crack down on Kurdish guerrillas.
That has the United States in a bind _ 'unwilling to open a new front in northern Iraq. Nor can it afford to lose its support from Iraq's Kurdish population,' said Dr. Andrew McGregor, a security analyst and Kurdish expert in Canada.
. . . [T]he opponents within al-Maliki's administration [to the Kirkuk resettlement program] caved in after the Kurds threatened to resign from the Cabinet _ a move that would have spelled the end of the fragile, U.S.-backed governing coalition.
. . . The Kurds used . . . hardball tactics . . . to win concessions granting them a major say in what companies are granted rights to exploit Iraqi oilfields in Kurdish-controlled areas." [2]

sources
[1] Fraser, Suzan. (The Associated Press). Turkey Warns Iraqi Kurds on Interference. April 9, 2007.
[2] Reid, Robert H. (The Associated Press). Ambitions of Iraqi Kurds Worry Turkey. April 17, 2007.

posted: saturday, april 21, 2007, 6:04 AM ET

update: saturday, april 21, 2007, 6:17 AM ET

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Monday, April 02, 2007

Kirkuk compensation for voluntary exit

"The Iraqi government will soon begin relocating Arabs who were moved to Kirkuk under an edict by Saddam Hussein to force Kurds out of the disputed northern city, officials said Saturday.
The controversial step for the oil-rich city could help determine whether it becomes part of an autonomous Kurdish region, but critics warned that it would stoke sectarian tensions.
Iraq's cabinet on Thursday endorsed a committee's recent recommendation to compensate eligible Arabs who voluntarily leave the city, said Sadiq al-Rikabi, a political adviser to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Those who choose to move will receive about $15,000 and a plot of land in their home town. Officials will soon accept applications to determine eligibility, he said.
. . . Abdul Rahman Munshed al-Asi, leader of the Arab advisory council of Kirkuk, said Saturday that many Arabs fear that the repatriation would be voluntary in name but carried out with force by Kirkuk's Kurdish-led security forces." [1]

"Iraq's constitution sets an end-of-the-year deadline for a referendum on Kirkuk's status. Since Saddam's fall four years ago, thousands of Kurds who once lived in the city have resettled there. It is now believed Kurds are a majority of the population and that a referendum on attaching Kirkuk to the Kurdish autonomous zone would pass easily." [2]

source
[1] Brulliard, Karin. (The Washington Post). Iraq Prepares to Resettle Arabs Sent to Kirkuk by Hussein Edict. April 1, 2007.
[2] Hurst, Steven R. (The Associated Press). Iraq Endorses Arab Relocation for Kirkuk. March 31, 2007.

posted: monday, april 2, 2007, 4:59 AM ET

update: monday, april 2, 2007, 5:35 AM ET

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