Iraqi Kurds complain to the United States over Turkish attacks in N. Iraq

Iraqi Kurds have complained about Turkish military operations in northern Iraq against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), urging the US to put a stop to the operations.

Since Dec. 16 the Turkish military has carried out three aerial strikes and one ground incursion, involving hundreds of troops, against PKK targets in northern Iraq. The operations took place with US airspace clearance and US-provided intelligence. But the US support for the Turkish operations in northern Iraq have strained the Iraqi Kurds' relations with Washington.

Iraqi Kurdish leaders Jalal Talabani, who is also currently the president of Iraq, and Massoud Barzani met yesterday with US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker in the northern Iraqi city of Selahaddin, conveying their uneasiness about the ongoing Turkish military operations to the top US diplomat in Iraq. "The United States is aware of the operations. We are saying that these operations are unacceptable," Molla Bahdiyar, a spokesman for Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), said after the meeting. "We want the Turkish military operations to stop."

Iraqi Kurds claim that the Turkish strikes have caused civilian casualties, a charge Turkey categorically denies. In a speech on Tuesday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said those who claim that civilians are being killed in the cross-border operations are "lying."

"Turkish warplanes are dropping bombs on our region. We don't accept the operations taking place in civilian areas," Bahdiyar said, calling for a political solution to the crisis.

Talabani and Barzani also discussed the status of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk with the US ambassador. A referendum on the fate of the disputed city, originally slated for the end of this year, had to be postponed after Iraqi authorities failed to meet a series of pre-referendum conditions, including a mandatory population census. Barzani said earlier this week that the delay of the referendum would be for six months. Bahdiyar said after yesterday's meeting with Crocker that the Iraqi Kurdish administration would agree to the six-month delay provided that clear guarantees are inserted in the Iraqi Constitution stipulating that the referendum will be held.

27.12.2007
M. Alihan Hasanoğlu Selahadd