U.S gives a green light to Turkey to attack PKK in Southern Kurdistan

Kurdishspect.com

According to Awene, in the meeting held on January 29th with Masud Barzani, the president of the Kurdistan Regional Government, and his vice president Kosrat Rasul, were told by Joseph Ralston the United States' special envoy on countering the PKK that Turkey has been given a green light from the U.S to attack PKK positions on the Qandil Mountains. The source told Awene that the military invasion will start in the beginning of April 2007.

On February 13, Jangawar, a member of the PKK leadership, told Awene that the U.S and Turkish representatives have drawn up a plan against southern Kurdistan. He said “this plan starts with attacking PKK positions on the Qandil Mountains but their goals are to destroy Kirkuk’s referendum and other Kurdish advancements in southern Kurdistan”.

By giving a green light to Turkey to invade the Kurdistan Region the U.S is hoping to deter Turkey from getting closer to Iran.

A Kirkuk wake-up call for Kurds

Kurdishaspect.com - by Eamad J. Mazouri

This should be a wake-up call for all the Kurds, their friends and sympathizers around the world and especially in the United States of America.

Throughout their modern history, Kurds have been divided, denied their very existence, oppressed, massacred and even subjected to genocide. The regional governments have always conspired against their very basic human rights. While the same situation is still continuing in most parts of Kurdistan, Kurds in Iraqi Kurdistan have made major strides towards gaining self-determination within the framework of a democratic federal Iraq as the Kurdistan regional government has envisioned, secured and guaranteed in the permanent Iraqi constitution of 2005, that the majority of Iraqi people have voted on and was ratified by Iraqi parliament.

Article 140 provides that by the end of 2007 a referendum to be held by the people of Kirkuk to decide whether they would like to rejoin Iraqi Kurdistan region or not. Regrettably, Turkey has repeatedly stated her wishes to intervene in Iraqi internal affairs by voicing outright objection to the implementation of this article of the Iraqi constitution.

Turkey that has until recently denied the very existence of over 20 million Kurds inside her borders, does not recognize them until now as such, does not believe in a peaceful solution to her Kurdish problem, has spearheaded an evil effort recently, depending solely on her fifth column embodied in ITF inside Iraq in a campaign of lies and deception directed at American public opinion to misguide them about the facts on Kirkuk issue.

A Turkish delegation led by Turkish PM of ruling party Mr. Turan Comez is touring U.S. cities and universities to spread their unsubstantiated claims that have started surfing the internet lately. Not only has that, their efforts been coupled with hiring some pens as well who are unjustly attacking Kurdish people and their government.

The whole campaign is focused on Kirkuk, in an attempt to perpetuate the crime dictator Saddam committed against Kurds. Therefore, I deem it as a duty for every Kurd and their true friends to stand up firmly and aggressively against this unjust campaign waged by Turkish government who the Kurds have always held an olive branch towards them.

Their baseless accusations must be answered by facts concerning the real situation in Kirkuk; how and when Arabization occurred? Who was the real target? How those evacuated are still living in camps in Arbil and Sulaymania unable to return home or recover their properties even after Saddam is gone? How Turkmen in Kurdistan for the first time are granted their full rights and are enjoying them along with the rest of Kurdistan mosaic population of religions and ethnicities? How Kurds have succeeded to build something new in the region in the middle of the ongoing chaos against all odds, based on tolerance a concept that is totally unfamiliar or unrecognized by the countries of the region?

Whose Kurdistan Is it?

Kurdishaspect.com - by Dr. Showan Khurshid

Among all the news outlets, Awene alone published the news of a Muallah denouncing and cursing a writer, Ismail Berzanji, as an apostate. The apparent reason, according to the writer himself, as noted in Awene, is an article, in which he says: ‘what is the need to make a public holiday out of the commemoration of the death of someone who died one thousand year ago’. It is not clear though why such a statement should get a Mullah’s goat, although it is possible that they may have suspected the writer to be questioning the importance of commemorating the death of Mohammed the founder of Islam, some 14 centuries ago. The author noted that all what he wanted was to criticise the government and that this was not the first time that he was threatened. Further, the author, feeling he is in a helpless position, pleads with the readership to let their conscience be the arbitrator.

Regardless of the importance or validity of the author’s statement. No person of authority (the mullah in this case) should be allowed to condemn people, particularly because such condemnation is tantamount, in the Islamic context, to issuing a death warrant, considering that many a Muslim will wish having such an opportunity to prove they are firm Muslims.

For the multitude of the selfish and arrogant Islamic clerics, being ignorant of any useful science and devoid of creativity, Islam, for what it is, is the only viable means for domination. However, the problem is that the Kurdish authorities are systematically failing to protect the lives of the authors and critics. This is not the first time.

Back in July last year, because of potential court case between Salahaddin Bahaddin the General Secretary of ‘Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU)’, on the one hand, and Saro Kadir, the head of Media Centre of Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), on the other hand, we come to know about a crime against some individuals, possibly, carried out by Muslims. Salahaddin Bahaddin was initiate a court case against Saro Kadir for libel. In response the Mr Kadir threatened to bring charges against Mr. Bahaddin on the basis that the media campaign waged by KIU resulted in the murder of Shapour and Qabil. Consequently, Salahaddin Bahaddin withdrew his court case and everything went silent again. However, justice was left undone. Unfortunately, we still do not know who were these individuals and what did or say to deserve to be denounced by a religious organisation and to be killed subsequently. The same pattern of events was repeated in the denunciation of Mariwan Halabjai for publishing his book. The episodes show that Kurdish authorities may use justice as a pressure card to intimidate opponents but justice is not the goal. That Islamists can kill those who are not closely protected by the big parties. However, we know that this does not bode well.

We should require Kurdish authorities to take up their responsibilities and prosecute those religious authorities who take laws into their own hand. They behave as though they are ultimate authority of the land we are told that Khomeini’s or bn Laden’s substitute will rule Kurdistan . The laws of Kurdistan allow some freedom of expression. So these Islamic clerics, by issuing these denunciations, are in effect applying different set of laws, which has not been authorised by a recognised political body, like the parliament.

Failure to act will only add to the suspicion that the Kurdish authorities may want to walk the same cheap and dirty line of the majority of Islamic governments who allow some free reign to Islamic terrorism to clear liberals, as long as these terrorist do not challenge the governmental authorities. This in effect will mean that our country will be doomed like all other benighted Islamic countries to decade of underdevelopment and human right abuses and extremism. It is not right that tens of our writers be killed or forced into silence or exile because of the primitive Islamic terrorism. Our liberals, because of the Islamic terrorism, are have no country of their own.