As it has been informed, the official representative of the US Department of State Richard Boucher has come out with condemnation of actions of Turkey. The next day the American military ship which had stayed in the bay of Iskyanderun for several days waiting for permission for mooring, received an instruction to ship to the coast of Kuwait. This was understood as a confirmation of serious contradictions between Washington and Ankara. We shall remind that the decision adopted last Thursday by the Mejlis, has in fact sanctioned the intervention. Thus, the agreement foreseeing restrictions for the movement of Turkey in the Iraqi territory has been violated. In exchange for the right of creation of a buffer zone and a control over the migration inflows, Ankara should have provided bridgehead for intervention in Iraq from the North for the Americans. However, the Turks decided to maintain the right of control over the actions of the Americans, at the same time, liberating from all the liabilities, concerning their actions on the territory of the Iraqi Kurdistan. This was dictated also by the essential reduction of the volumes of aid, promised by Washington in case if Ankara supports the anti-Iraqi coalition. If in the beginning the matter concerned a “bribe” worth $6 billion, recently Collin Powell said that the Turks may count on a billion only.
The misunderstanding in the relations between Turkey and the USA may lead to a new military focus. The journalists call this situation “a war inside the war”. The leaders of the self-governance bodies of the Iraqi Kurdistan have expressed their will to fight if the Turks start an invasion. Representative of the leadership of the Democratic Party of Kurdistan Khoshavi Babakr told recently the Russian journalists: “We shall show a resistance to the Turkish troops. We have enough resources to defend ourselves and to liberate Kurdistan. Besides, we count on the assistance of America”.
It is difficult to say, whether the hopes of the leaders of the Democratic party led by Jalal at-Talabani connected with the assistance of Washington are justified or not. But it is evident that the significance of the Kurdish factor will become more if the Americans decide to use the military potential of the Kurds for liquidation of Saddam’s regime. ”In order not to spoil its relations with Ankara, Washington has not asked us to take an active part in the war. But the situation may change,” says Khoshavi Babakr stressing that the ”participation of the Kurds in occupation of Baghdad is possible”.
Last week Turkish General Ali Kyurdan confirmed the intention of the Americans to involve the Kurdish formations in the military actions against Saddam. He voiced serious concern in this connection. Everybody understands that the armed Kurds will try to create their own state which may become a bridgehead for military actions against Turkey. These efforts will lead to the increase of national self-consciousness of millions of Kurds being oppressed in Turkey. The leaders of Kurdish community of the USA confirmed recently their decisiveness to create an independent state by the end of this year. As the ”Press-center.Ru” Russian information portal reports, according to their plans the sovereign Kurdistan will include, besides the North of Iraq, also several regions of Turkey and Azerbaijan. In Baku they are extremely concerned with this possibility. This concern is connected first of all with the fact that the recognition of the sovereignty of the Iraqi Kurdistan by the world community will create a precedent of formation of an independent state by an ethnic minority living in its historical motherland. And, as in case with Karabakh, this will happen regardless of the will of the ethnic majority. Breaking up of Iraq, undoubtedly, will have consequences not favorable for Azerbaijan. At the same time, it is not ruled out that the possible repartition in the Near East will give new trump-cards to the Armenian diplomacy.
