The Kurds are being driven out again - this time by Iran

[barb162]

The Kurds are being driven out again - this time by Iran
By Ned Parker in the Kandil mountains, northern Iraq


A SECRET war is being waged in Iraqi Kurdistan’s isolated Kandil mountain range. Since April Iran has been bombing the area in an attempt to expel Kurdish separatists, who have turned the rugged terrain into their own mini-state.

An estimated 400 families have fled the mountains to escape the Iranian attacks. No let-up appears in sight as fighters from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) refuse to abandon their enclave.


Murat Karayilan, the PKK’s bristly, grey-haired number two commander believes the campaign is an attempt by the Islamic republic to curry favour with Turkey, the PKK’s sworn enemy.

“The Turkish and Iranian forces have made an alliance to attack us,” Mr Karayilan told The Times inside his group’s enclave. “Iran is attacking us to make friends with Turkey and to send a message to the United States.”


snip
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2329600,00.html

[Kagemusha]

1. Cold as it may be, it's very smart of Turkey to do this.

It's getting them a hell of a lot more than a full invasion of northern Iraq, the US is in a poor position to complain, and Iran appreciates the help and watches the anti-Iran alliance get chipped away at bit by bit.

Turkey obviously has thought long and hard about what would be its next move. This is the result. They had worse options.

[dipsydoodle]

4. Turkey need to be careful .

If they mis-behave in certain areas they don't get EEC membership.

[Kagemusha]

6. Oh don't be silly, they haven't a prayer of EEC membership anyway.

They don't need open conflict with the US, though, so they're being discreet.

[Strabo]

2. how did I know there'd be a .uk at the end of that link?

I mean, it's not like any US based media would dream of reporting something like this. It might impugn Our Glorious Leader's statements that the whole region isn't going to fall apart because of our incredibly stupid invasion of Iraq. The entire region from Turkey to Afghanistan is going to be torn apart because of our imperialist policies. It's disgusting. How many hundreds of thousands of people are going to die, all so we can perpetuate American economic hegemony?

[MADem]

3. Those are "Turkey's" (PKK) Kurds getting bombed, not Iraqi or Iranian

Kurds. They're way up there in inaccessible territory, save bombing.

Those Iranians don't miss a trick, do they? They figure they'll do a few kindnesses in order to put their dibs in for a chunk of Kirkuk in the event that a civil war makes it stone's throw away.

Funny, though, those Kurds don't give up... they haven't for eighty or more years. We think we are seeing 'insurgency' in Iraq? They wrote the damn book.

The Turks and Iranians might not like what they bring down on themselves.

[Kagemusha]

7. The Kurds are bringing it to the Turks and Iranians as it is.

Granted, neither country deserves national sainthood, but at least they're not bombing Bagdhad in retaliation like a certain Western democracy in the Middle East...

[MADem]

8. Not as much as they have in the past, but you're right, and that could

ramp up if the timing is right.

I think the Kurds are looking at the geopolitical situation and figuring that the iron is almost as hot as it is gonna get. With all the unrest in the region, their shot at a unified Kurdistan looks actually POSSIBLE. The challenge will be, who will lead this nation? You've got three sets of leaders, in essence, who all might want the top dog slot.

So far, though, the Iraqi Kurds have the most infrastructure and autonomy--my money's on them if the day comes to pass when we see Kurdistan with a seat in the UN.

[LynnTheDem]

5. Gee now what's wrong with that headline...???

"Turkish and Iranian forces"...

Yep, something's missing from that headline...but shhhh! Must only demonize Iran!

[IndianaGreen]

9. They are also driven out by Turkey, a point that Murdoch's paper

fails to point out for the simple reason that Murdoch's publishing empire is part of the megaphone for war in Iran.

[Igel]

10. Given the way the Kurds have been cleansed from

much of where they used to be in Turkey, and how they're treated in Iran and Iraq, you'd almost think they'd want the security of their own state.

The fools. :sarcasm:

[bemildred]

11. Turkey, Syria, and Iran have a common interest in "containing" the Kurds.

Is has always been one of the major flaws in the Bushite project to "democratize" Iraq that it would inflame that problem, bringing those three nations into alliance in an attempt to control the nascent Kurdish state, as it arises from the debris of Saddam's Iraq.