Transnational Middle-East Observer

End of PJAK-Iran ceasefire?

2012-01-01T17:46:00.000-08:00

The first deputy commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps [IRGC],Brigadier General Hoseyn Salami has said a recent clash between the Corps and the PJAK [Party of Free Life in Kurdistan, Iranian offshoot of Kurdistan Workers Party] was a minor one reports Fars News Agency. During operations by the IRGC against PJAK, IRGC member Farhad Mahdi was killed near city of Baneh in Kordestan province, in addition to 4 PJAK members allegedly killed. Iran and PJAK agreed to a ceasefire in September 2011. It remains to be seen if the ceasefire holds. Iranian government media often claims that Turkey cannot defeat the PKK without help from others [Iran]. But for the moment, Turkish-Iranian military cooperation against PJAK/PKK ended. I described the history of this cooperation here.

Iraqi Government Will Possible Arrest More Sunni Leaders

2011-12-22T07:09:00.000-08:00

Scores of bodyguards of Sunnis leaders, like those of Al-Mashhadani, Al-Zawba'i of the Islamist Tawafuq party, were also arrested according to the newspaper Al-Alam. It is possible that more court cases will follow. The Maliki govt now says it will investigate Rafie al-Issawi, finance minister and senior member of Iraqiya List, for allegedly supporting militant groups in Falluja city. His bodyguards were also arrested. Earlier before Brig-Gen Adil Dahham, Interior Ministry spokesman, said on the Al-Iraqiyah channel that more legal procedures will follow against other terrorist groups. "A number of Vice-President Tariq al-Hashimi's bodyguards were arrested by virtue of judicial arrest warrants. Now, we will show you the confessions of this group of terrorists, Moreover, I promise you that we will also show the confessions of the remaining groups as soon as the necessary legal procedures taken by the Iraqi judiciary have been taken." He ended the conference by saying, "Brothers and sisters, I want to reiterate that we will show other confessions for the remaining terrorist groups once the necessary legal procedures have been completed." Some analysts suggests that Maliki is consolidating his power after the U.S. withdrawal, while members of his State of Law alliance deny this. Maliki was increasingly challenged by the demands of some Sunni-dominated provinces to form federal regions that would be more independent from Baghdad. While Sunni Arabs were in the past in favour of a strong unitary Iraqi government, some of them now do not like the idea to be governed by a Shiite-dominated government in Baghdad. Especially in Anbar, Mosul and Diyala. The governor and law makers of Diyala were driven out of Diyala to Kurdistan and KRG-controlled Xanaqin by alleged Shiite militias supported by Baghdad. As Qubad Talabani said, the son of the Iraqi president, 'fun & games' are just beginning.

Sunni Hizbullah Celebrates Shia Muharrem

2011-12-06T20:30:00.000-08:00

Every year, just as the Shia ceremonies of Muharram reach their peak on the tenth day of Ashura, the suicide attacks by Sunni extremists begin. But the Kurdish Hizbullah which was founded in the 1980s in Turkey and is still inspired by the Iranian revolution celebrated it in Kurdish-dominated Diyarbakir. Normally militant Sunni Islamist movements do not love Shia practices, and even try to disrupt or kill Shia mourners, but it depends where the inspiration (or in the case of Hamas, money and military training) comes from. Its something which goes unnoticed mostly in the media. Strangely, other Sunni movements that were supported by Iran, or inspired by Iran, did not adopt any Shia rituals or practices.

Where is Fehman Hüseyin?

2011-11-25T08:01:00.000-08:00

Zaman reported on 22 November that Syrian national Fehman Huseyin (code name Dr. Bahoz Erdal) has gathered 750 PKK insurgents in Hakkari to spend the winter and to launch operations as the spring begins to revenge Turkish military campaigns which killed PKK insurgents.

Two days later the same newspaper reports that Dr. Bahoz Erdal is possible the commander of a new PKK camp in Syria.

In the past there were the same issues of suspicious media reports about the location of Murat Karayilan and Cemil Bayik in 2008. There was speculation that Karayilan was caught and then released by Iran.

This shows that reporting by the Turkish media on the location of PKK-leaders should be taken with a grain of salt. According to a Dutch journalist it was reported that Karayilan was ‘caught’ 26 times since 1997.

Kurdish Hizbullah Movement Challenges Headscarf Ban in Turkey

2011-11-21T18:55:00.000-08:00

Mehmet Göktaş of the Kurdizh Hizbullah movement spoke on a rally on 23 October in Diyarbakir. The rally was a protest against the ban of head-scarves in the Turkish education system. The meeting was set up by the pro-Hizbullah NGO Mustazaf Der. Göktaş called on Muslim Kurds not to sent their children to schools. More can be read here. CNN Türk has a good article about the Islamic Kurdish movement here. Reuters also reported about the movement here and the PKK allowed the Kurdish islamist group to participate in the Democratic Society Congress, despite the past. Despite the fact, that some pro-PKK circles suggest the AKP-government is trying to use the group to create splits among Kurds. And therefore released some of their members (of which some ended up in Holland). According to Gareth Jenkins, and my information, the group is now competing both with the Gülen movement, and the PKK. I doubt that the group can be controlled by the state, since it's both Islamic (inspired by the Islamic revolution in Iran), but also Kurdish nationalist. While the AKP-party is more Turkish, and a result of the old Ottoman Islam (or Turkish state islam).

Video

Jenkins About Hizbullah, Gülen, PKK, AKP and Turkey

2011-11-21T18:38:00.000-08:00

Full interview quotes from the Istanbul-based analyst Gareth Jenkins. It includes some interesting quotes on the Gülen movement, AKP, the Kurdish Hizbullah, and the PKK. Sadly, I couldn't use all the information for the article. I interviewed him for my latest article about Fethullah Gülen's speeches about the Kurds, and PKK.

I don't think that there is any doubt that the Gulen Movement is supporting the KCK case. As with Ergenekon and Balyoz, it is difficult to prove the involvement of Gulenists in the judiciary but there is no doubt that the Gulenist media is supporting the case (e.g. publishing lies about Professor Ersanli to try to justify her detention). The subtext to the KCK investigation is the battle for hearts and minds in southeast Turkey. The Gulenists NGOs are now very active in the region and thus competing with NGOs sympathetic to the Kurdish nationalist movement (and also NGOs close to Hizbullah). The KCK is a real PKK organization, of course. But the KCK investigation is being used to imprison as many Kurdish nationalists as possible (some of whom at least actually hate the PKK). In the process, it is severely weakening organizations and structures (NGOs, BDP etc) which are rivals to the Gulen movement in southeast Turkey. The same method can be seen in the April 2009 raids in the Ergenekon case when police hit CYDD and Baba Beni Okula Gonder; which just happened to be the main secular organizations competing with the Gulenists to provide scholarships to students. Both Ergenekon and the KCK investigation are being used to try to eliminate the Gulen Movement's rivals.

It will be interesting to see what happens with Hizbullah, which is immensely powerful (though not yet violent again) in southeast Turkey. Apart from competing with the Gulenists for hearts and minds, Hizbullah is also trying to stake a claim to the legacy of Said Nursi, Gulen's spiritual
mentor. Hizbullah publications now portray him (accurately) as a being a Kurdish radical Islamist and thus (probably not quite so accurately) as a forerunner of their own movement. But the Gulenists are frightened of Hizbullah. So they may hesitate to go after them.

Having said that, the Gulenists may have bitten off more than they can chew with the KCK. The investigation is used by the PKK to whip up anti-Gulenist sentiment. There has been a lot recently in the PKK propaganda outlets about the Gulen Movement, particularly since a recent reshuffle in the judiciary/police saw several suspected Gulen sympathizers transferred to the southeast. Although
a lot of those arrested in the KCK investigation are not PKK, some are; and their arrest disrupts the PKK's ability to organize (NGO activity, recruitment etc). So, in addition to alienating the former leftists amongst the so-called "liberal intellectuals" -- who once supported the Gulen
Movement but have begun to split from it as leftists have been arrested and charged with membership of the KCK -- the KCK investigation may mean that the PKK starts directly targeting the Gulen Movement.

On the AKP and concessions on Kurdish language: it is possible. I think the AKP is willing to make some concessions. The problem is that they won't be enough. The Kurds' current demands (e.g. "democratic autonomy") are impossible for any Turkish government to grant under the current
circumstances. Both sides have to compromise. But they are so far apart that the few language concessions the AKP is prepared to make won't be enough to bring them together.

A Renewed Arab Political Boycott in Kirkuk

2011-09-27T02:00:00.000-07:00

Kirkuk's Arab Political Council threatened with demonstrations, sit-ins and boycotts last summer, if their demands were not implemented after Ramadan. After Ramadan there were however no protests, sit-ins, but they did decide to launch a boycott. Kirkuk's Arab nationalist politicians declared they decided to boycott the Kirkuk Provincial Council to protest the bad security situation, and the alleged targeting of Arabs in Kirkuk. The security situation is deteriorating and there are discussions between the different ethnic political factions how to deal with security. The Arab nationalists in Kirkuk called for military intervention from Baghdad, while the Kurdish nationalist parties prefer the local security forces over the army. The Turkmen nationalists on the other hand decided to form their own 'Turkmen militia', which resulted in Arab politicians claiming they would form their own defense committees to defend Arabs. In other developments, there were tensions between Kirkuk's Arab politicians and Iraqiyya. Last Sunday Iraqiyya List leader Iyad Allawi visited Kurdish leaders in Erbil. This resulted in protests of Kirkuk's Arab politicians who suggested there was a deal. Kirkuk's Arab politicians supported the Iraqiyya list during the 2010 elections, but there are tensions between them and the Iraqiyya list. They fear the Iraqiyya leadership could sign a deal with the Kurds. But the Iraqiyya list is weak and divided. Recently there were claims the Iraqi parliament speaker Osama Nujayfi had an argument with Iraqiyya list leader Iyad Allawi.

Al Jazeera Debate About Turkey and Kurds

2011-09-20T01:01:00.000-07:00

Historical Background on Turkish Cross-border Attacks

2011-09-16T04:25:00.001-07:00

Some historical background on Turkish cross-border attacks. On August 15, 1986, the Turkish air force bombed Northern Iraq, killing 100 Iraqi Kurdish civilians and KDP fighters [with the aim to fight the PKK]. In smaller operations in 1987, cross-border bombings wounded many Iraqi Kurds and destroyed the houses. This while the alliance between PKK and KDP ended, after the PKK attacked the Iraqi Communist Party (which was allied with the KDP) in April 1985 [source: Aliza Marcus, "Blood and Belief, the PKK and the Kurdish Fight for Independence", 2007].

Turkey-PKK Meetings in Europe Are Nothing New

2011-09-15T04:57:00.000-07:00

Kani Yilmaz (Kurdishmedia.com)

A leaked voice recording reveals secret talks between representatives of the Turkish government and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) organization in Oslo, Norway. Participants were Hakan Fidan, now the undersecretary of the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) (at that time adviser to the Turkish PM); Afet Güneş, deputy-undersecretary of the MİT, represented the Turkish intelligence organization; Sabri Ok, who is in charge PKK's European operations and alleged leader of the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK); Zübeyir Aydar; PKK commanders Mustafa Karasu and Adem Uzun.

However these meetings in Europe are nothing new. The Turkish General Staff (Turkish army) conducted a series of negotiations with PKK between 1996 and 1999, even before the capture of the organization’s leader, Abdullah Öcalan, the Taraf daily reported. Former PKK rebel Faysal Dunlayici (aka Kani Yilmaz) who was later allegedly killed by the PKK, also in an interview in 2004 revealed these talks. In these meetings Sabri Ok also played a role.

This shows that these backdoor meetings are nothing new and that the Turkish opposition parties shouldn't use this to sway public opinion against the government. Or they also should criticize the Turkish army for talking with the PKK. The AKP-government also spoke with Abdullah Öcalan, and sent a message to Qandil through a journalist who interviewed PKK-leaders. Now, however, the meetings are non-existent, or on a lower-level, since the government banned Öcalan's lawyers to visit him. The question is rather why these talks failed, and why Turkey's conflict with the PKK is still ongoing?

Tejel: Nuances are needed in understanding Christian-Kurdish relations in Syria

2011-09-15T04:29:00.000-07:00

Additional comment from Research Professor Jordi Tejel for my piece about relations between Christians and Kurds in Northeastern Syria. He works at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (Geneva) and is author of many articles on the Kurds in Syria and of Syria's Kurds: History, Politics and Society (2009). His comment is important to understand the historical relations between Christians and Kurds in Syria, and in other parts of the Middle-East.

Jordi Tell:

Yes, the author of the cable got the sense of relations in Jazira, although a nuance is needed. "Kurds" and "Christians" are categories that must be challenged and we need to go back to the interwar era and the French Mandatory period in Syria, even back to the First World War. As you know during the First World War Kurds massacred many Christian in Eastern Anatolia, mainly Armenians but also Syriacs. At the same time, some Kurdish notables and tribal leaders concluded alliances with Christian population in a region ranging from Mardin to Tur Abdin and indeed many Christians (Armenians, Catholic Assyrians,...) did survive.

When the French occupied Syria, they welcomed Christian and Kurdish refugees from Turkey. In exchange, newcomers had to be loyal to the French and develop economically the Jazira. The trouble was that French policies in the region divided up local populations. Generally speaking, Catholic Christians (Assyrians and Armenians alike) had better relations both with the French and Kurds, whereas Orthodox Christians (Syriacs and Armenians alike) preferred to establish good relations with the local Arabs and the Arab government in Damascus. During the 1930s, some conflicts emerged and some Syriac Christians (in Amude) were killed by Kurdish tribesmen. In Qamishli and Hasake. Some Kurdish leaders wished to establish an autonomous entity within the Syrian state, others worked for the establishment of a Kurdish state along with Eastern Anatolia or today's Iraqi Kurdistan. In that sense, some Christians and Arabs alike feared that Kurds in Jazira sought to "Kurdizise" the region and therefore become the sole elites.

When the French left, Arabs and Christians marginalized Kurdish elites in the region. They shared the economic and political power of Jazira. Throughout the Baath rule, this did not change and while the regime co-opted individuals from every community, many Orthodox Syriacs joined the local mukhabarat. In so doing, they especially repressed Catholic Armenians, Assyrians and Kurds and ultimately favored the cooperation among the latter.

Things worsened in 2004, after the Kurdish uprising in Qamishli, since Christians realized that they were losing social, cultural, and economic distinction and elite status in local affairs. The revolt resulted in significant feelings of insecurity among the Christians in general, they feared new massacres against them and the raising of a "Kurdish power" in the region. As for Arabs, some Kurdish tribes and Arab tribes have been fighting for land properties since the French Mandate... And relations between Kurds and Arabs from Der ez-Zor were particularly bad since many Arabs from that town worked for the pro-government militias which were due to control the Jazira.

Yet relations between Kurdish and Christian intellectuals continue and they are especially good in Qamishli.

As for the Syrian opposition, well it's true that this historical background makes things more complicated, but again it depends on what Kurds and Christians we are talking about. Armenian, Assyrian and Kurdish political parties have some elements in common: they don't want a religious government in Damascus, that's something to start with.

Full quote about Turkish plans to target PKK orgs in Europe

2011-09-02T09:54:00.000-07:00

Under its new initiative, Ankara will share dossiers, including evidence to EU-member states, in hopes European states will take stronger action to end terrorist financing. The names of companies contributing financial aid to the PKK are also being sent to relevant countries.

Read the article here.

The question and answer:

Our question is how effective do you see this initiative? What are the hesitations for both Turkey and its Western allies at this point? And are there really a strong financial support sources from EU companies to PKK?

This diplomatic initiative is nothing new and Turkish government has
been lobbying for several years to cut off financial sources of the
PKK and to combat PKK organizations in Europe without much success.
Its part of the recently launched military operations against the PKK
in Northern Iraq and the worsening of relations between the PKK and
the Turkish government (negotiations between Öcalan and the Turkish
government failed, and the government banned some of Öcalan’s lawyers
to visit him). Its clear that the PKK is dependent on money from
Europe and the Kurdish diaspora for its media activities and
supporting PKK organizations in Europe. Furthermore according to the
Dutch intelligence services the PKK supplies goods to the PKK camps in
Northern Iraq. The support the PKK gets is mostly from financial
contributions that are collected from its supporters through
social-cultural unions mentioned in the report you mention that are
united in KON-KURD (Confederation of Kurdish Associations in Europe)
and contributions from companies united in KARSAZ, the International
Kurdish Employers Union. In every European country there are these
federations or unions. However Turkish Kurds do not own major
companies and are mostly involved in small companies like small
restaurants, supermarkets and other businesses. Often its difficult to
track these money flows. In addition PKK organizations or proxies
change their names after they are closed and reorganize themselves
(see for example the banning of predecessors of Roj TV, Med TV closed
in 1999, Medya TV closed in 2004). Turkey also have difficulties with
combating PKK activities in Turkey itself, and there are several
social-cultural organizations, companies, human rights organizations
that have links, or are controlled by the PKK.

More about this issue can also be found in the Wikileaks cables. The US is pressuring EU countries to take action against the PKK. France for instance closed some pro-PKK organizations, and arrested people. On Saturday there is a pro-PKK festival with Kurds from Turkey in Germany.

New Analysis of Jaysh Rijal al-Tariq al-Naqshabandi

2011-08-20T06:14:00.000-07:00

Michael Knights argues that one driver for the ongoing resilience, or even revival, of Sunni militancy is the growing influence of the Jaysh Rijal al-Tariq al-Naqshabandi (JRTN) movement, which has successfully tapped into Sunni Arab fear of Iraq’s Shi`a-led government and the country’s Kurdish population, while offering an authentic Iraqi alternate to al-Qa`ida in Iraq (AQI). The JTRN is not very known and there is not a lot information about them on the internet. The features of JRTN are becoming clearer, providing an interesting case study of an insurgent movement that learned from the mistakes of other militants and has successfully created a hybrid of Islamist themes and nationalist military expertise, suggest Knights. Furthermore the JRTN has sympathy within the Iraqi security forces and judiciary, and allegedly within the 12th division of the Iraqi army in Kirkuk.

Kurdish Al Qaeda Member Killed in Pakistan

2011-08-05T11:20:00.000-07:00

According reports in the Kurdish media former Islamic Movement Member Tahseen Ali Abdulaziz was killed on 3 August in a drone attack in North Waziristan. American media did report about drone attacks in Pakistan, but didn't mention the names of the militants killed. In the past Tahseen Mela Ali was a member of the Kurdistan Islamic Movement (IMIK) in Iraqi Kurdistan. Later he joined Ansar al-Islam. After America bombed Ansar al-Islam camps in the Hawraman region (Halabja) in joint operations with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, he fled to Iran in 2003. Apparently after Iran he went to Pakistan. Recently the U.S. accused Iran of having an agreement with an Al Qaeda network led by the Kurd Ezedin Abdel Aziz Khalil. Ansar al-Islam is known to be an ally of Al Qaeda and Kurdish political parties accuse the group of being supported by Iran.

Sources: Xendan.org, Rudaw.net

Arab Political Council Threathens with Post-Ramadan Demonstrations

2011-08-02T13:23:00.001-07:00

The Arab Political Council in Kirkuk threathened with sit-ins and demonstrations in Kirkuk, if their demands are not implemented. In a press statement they said abuses of the law should be ended, [Arab] innocent prisoners released from prisons, that security balanced (more mixed with Arabs) and the implementation of Article 23 of the Provincial Election Law (32% of the positions for Turkmen, Kurds and Arabs inside the Provincial Council and 4% for Christians). The council demands early elections and a fact-finding commission from the parliament to deal with the kidnapped people. The statement ends with 'long live, a free and united Iraq, Kirkuk is for all Iraqis'.

The law suggests the following (NYTimes.com 2008):

The law divides power in the provincial council and in the leadership posts equally among Arabs, Turkmens and Kurds. Currently, the Kurds hold slightly more than half the seats on the council, as well as the governorship and the chairmanship of the council.

The law does not address whether Kirkuk should become part of Kurdistan. Another provision would also move responsibility for security in Kirkuk to “military units brought from the middle and south of Iraq.” The Kurds, whose pesh merga army currently has a significant role in the area, were infuriated by this proposal.

Sadr Movement Reject US Presence in Disputed Territories

2011-08-01T01:19:00.000-07:00

Maha al Douri is a Shiite lawmaker who once was a Sunni. Douri won the most votes as a woman in Iraq's elections in 2010 and is a staunch supporter of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Her recent statement is a message from the Sadr movement to Kurdish officials who argued that the U.S. armed forces should stay in the disputed regions of Iraq to prevent conflict between Arab and Kurds.

Foreign analysts also suggested it might be better to keep a presence in the disputed areas to prevent conflict. A study of RAND concludes that “unless and until [Iraqi] politicians succeed in addressing the strategic challenges that destabilize the region, a U.S. military presence will be needed in northern Iraq to prevent such a breakdown.”

MP from the Ahrar bloc, Maha Al Duri, said "Kirkuk is an integral part of Iraq, and the term (disputed areas) is an American-trap to divide the country."

She said in a statement "the occupation is making the issue of the disputed areas a reason to blackmail the central government politically, economically and militarily. Every foot of the country is Iraqi, we reject the presence of occupation forces on it."

She made clear "Iraqis can solve their problems by themselves and there is no need to keep the occupation, which will make the situation worse, complicate the situation and ignite strife in order to serve its strategic interests in the region."

Article 140 of the Constitution marked the areas claimed by the Kurds in a number of disputed areas, while, the Arab component refuses this term and considers that it is not proper to name lands under sovereign state - NINA news

Is the Peshmerga a challenge to the Iraqi army?

2011-07-31T08:47:00.001-07:00

The Kurdish Armed Forces (KAF) are presented as a threat to the stability in Iraq by a recent Reuters report. According to Qubad Talabani, son of the Iraqi president, and the KRG representative to the U.S., the report includes: 'More like gross factual errors, including the failure to mention decades of ethnic cleansing of Kurds from Kirkuk'.

A senior Iraqi defence official told Reuters that the Kurdish Regional Border Guard (Peshmerga) present a formidable challenge to the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF). It's true the Kurdish parties control the security inside Kirkuk city, but it's doubtful the Peshmerga can stand up to the ISF in the future.

"They were sending a message to the central government, saying 'we can enter Kirkuk any time and you cannot stop us,'" a senior Iraqi Defense Ministry official told Reuters.
The official said the KRG would not invade Kirkuk after the U.S. leaves but would seek to displace Arabs. He said the Kurd population had soared from 150,000 to 350,000 since 2003.
The peshmerga, however, represent a formidable challenge to the Iraqi army. The Kurds have 100,000 troops, better weaponry and experienced leaders, the official said.
"After 2003, they captured the former Iraqi army tanks. About 4,000 tanks left by the former Iraqi army in the streets and cities disappeared, and our investigations indicate that the Kurds have most of them and Iran got the rest," he said.
The peshmerga deployment served notice that without the neutral buffer of U.S. forces, the Kurdish region might "feel compelled to use military muscle to defend its interests," said Wayne White, an analyst with the Middle East Institute - Reuters

According to a RAND report released in 2010 the Iraqi army can contain the Peshmerga forces in 2010 and can contain and defeat them in 2015. RAND notes:

Kurds could use the Peshmerga to try to secure what they see as their rightful and self-sufficient Kurdistan, or if they feel isolated by the GoI and threatened by the ISF.

This is what happened on 25 February, when the Iraqi Kurdish parties allegedly felt threatened by Arab political parties or insurgents inside Kirkuk. Other analysts and Iraqi politicians suggest Kurdish parties used unrest in Kirkuk to deflect attention away from the Suleymaniyah protests (against the ruling Kurdish parties) and to unite the Kurds inside the Kurdistan region against a threat from 'former Baathists' or 'chauvinists'.

But the RAND report also notes that:

The ISF should soon be able to keep the Peshmerga from seizing contested territory by force, with the possible exception of areas where Kurds are in the majority and could facilitate Peshmerga operations. The ISF will be unable to defeat the Peshmerga on Kurdish soil for years to come.

USIP's Sean Kane adds that:

For their part, Kurds believe that, having built, trained, and armed Iraq’s now 650,000-person security forces while failing to resolve the issue of the disputed territories politically, the United States has laid the groundwork for resurgent Baghdad to forcefully roll back hard-won Kurdish autonomy after the scheduled 2011 U.S. troop withdrawal. Kurdish officials are particularly concerned that the Iraqi army’s purchase of 140 M1 Abrams tanks and armed scout helicopters, as well as requests to purchase 18 F-16s and 24 Boeing AH-6 Apache helicopter gunships, could tip the political-military balance of power between Baghdad and Erbil. They argue that the peshmerga—the Kurdish regional guard—should be given a share of the heavy weaponry being purchased.

Prime Minister Nouri Maliki announced Saturday that Iraq plans to buy 36 U.S. fighter jets, signaling his intent to seek a long-term American military training presence in the country. This shows that in the future the ISF will be much stronger than the Kurdish Armed Forces (KAF).

Iraqi Security Forces

The ISF (650,000) consist of the army, air force, and navy (under the MoD) and the IPS, FP, border police, and FPS (under the MoI). Furthermore there are the irregular Sahwa forces (Sunni defence militias) payed by Baghdad. The Counterterrorism Bureau (CTB) reports directly to the prime minister Nouri al-Maliki. Furthermore Maliki controls now both the ministries of Defense, Interior and National Security as a result of disagreements about which political party should control them. Members of the Iraqiyya list like Maysoun Al Damlouji and Iraqi Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi accused Maliki of monopolizing the security forces. The Iraqi army have T-72 tanks, a small airforce, artillery, etc. In the future they will have 140 M1 Abrams tanks and armed scout helicopters, F-16s and Boeing AH-6 Apaches (Sources: RAND/ICG 2011/Aswat al-Iraq/USIP).

Kurdish Security Forces

The Kurds control around 75,000 to 100,000 Peshmerga forces. There are also Kurdish security forces inside the Iraqi army, counter terrorist units and police. Officially the General Command of [Kurdistan] Region's Protection Forces include Kurdistan peshmergas, police and Asayish that were established according to an order from the Region's presidency in January 2007. The Kurdish security forces are divided by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan [PUK] and the Kurdistan Democratic Party [KDP]. The KDP controls the gendarmerie-like paramilitary forces of the Zerevani (23,000 forces), an intelligence agency called Azhansi Parastni Asaishi Haremi Kurdistan (Kurdistan region security protection agency), and the Hezakani Asaishi Parti. While the PUK controls Hezakani Asaishi Yaketi and their intelligence agency, Dazgay Zanyari. Futhermore the PUK have it's own Counterterrorist Group headed by Lahur Talabani. The Peshmerga forces have artillery, anti-tank units, infantry forces with old tanks (mostly T55s which are non-operational), but no operational air forces apart from some choppers (Sources: Jamestown, ICG, Livin magazine, book by Chapman about Peshmerga forces).

Kirkuk Police: Kidnapping Ring Arrested

2011-07-29T08:21:00.000-07:00

The police chief of Kirkuk, Maj. Gen. Jamal Tahir in a press conference told the media that the police after receiving intelligence information, which was confirmed by the Asayish of Kirkuk (Kurdish Security Agency) and information of one of the kidnapped, they arrested 15 people for being involved in the acts of kidnapping. Allegedly some of those members belong to the Iraqi army and Brig. Gen. Sameer Abdul Kareem, commander of the 12th Iraqi army division in Kirkuk, cooperated with the police in arresting those involved. The police chief said arrests have continued since Wednesday night and Thursday morning. There have been ongoing fears in Kirkuk about on ongoing kidnapping wave. The Kurdish governor of Kirkuk promised the security forces would arrest the suspects, but it's unclear if these arrest will stop the kidnappings, which have been going on since 2003.

Sources: PUKmedia, almalaf.net

Sri Lankan Plan Against PKK?

2011-07-28T09:45:00.000-07:00

According to recent media reports Turkey edges toward conflict with the PKK. KUNA reported that the Turkish government might approve military operations against the PKK in northern Iraq in retaliation of the killing of 13 Turkish soldiers by the PKK in Silvan. The pro-PKK news agency claims a recent article of Fehmi Koru shows that the Turkish government is discussing the Sri Lanka model to deal with the PKK. Sri Lanka destroyed the LTTE in a huge operations with outside support from China and other countries. Turkey earlier discussed this model. The PKK general Murat Karayilan rejected this comparison. It's true that the island of Sri Lanka cannot be compared to the mountainous geographical region where the PKK-rebels are based in.

Koru discussed possible Turkish-Iranian cooperation against the PKK and the Turkish media was dominated by discussions how to solve the so-called Kurdish issue 'without the PKK'. Like Sinhalese-dominated Sri Lanka government tried to solve it's issue with the Tamil minority 'without the LTTE'. Currently there are ongoing Iranian operations against the PJAK by Iran and the PKK accuses Turkey of working together with Iran, while receiving American intelligence. Furthermore the PKK-media frames the recent news that Turkey will now combat the PKK with police units instead of the army, as a sign of Turkish war plans. The PKK-media sees the article in the Zaman newspaper as a declaration of war. Koru wrote that Turkey is busy with a plan to combat the PKK. The government in Baghdad and the Kurdish government are against the PKK using their territory against their neighbours. Iran has a problem with PJAK and the Syrian president Assad has a interest in cooperation. While Turkey is holding meetings with U.S. officials about the PKK.

Koru asked the question if the recent anti-PJAK operations by Iran could mean the start of a big operation against the PKK. Likely the articles of Koru were just mere speculation and the PKK-media often frames events in conspiracy-like theories. The PKK's leadership KCK recently stated the 'mainstream Turkish press for nationalist writings and publications are clues of an upcoming aggressive term against Kurdish people'. Still the news reports and articles indicate ongoing tensions, Turkish frustration with the PKK and an ongoing hot summer in the region.

Disagreement Over Security Forces in Kirkuk

2011-07-28T02:50:00.000-07:00

Archive picture showing Iraqi army in joint operations with U.S. forces and police in Kirkuk

Disagreements have resurfaced between politicians of Kirkuk, reports Al-Iraqiyah from Baghdad. This time, the disagreement is over the presence of the Iraqi Army in the governorate to maintain security which has seen some violations lately. This debate is nothing new though. Arab politicians in Kirkuk call for the intervention of the army forces; the Sunni Turkoman politicians find it necessary to form a force from the governorate's three components; and the Kurds believe that there is no need for such forces and think the current situation is fine. Arab and Turkmen nationalists accuse the Kurdish parties of controlling the security in Kirkuk, but the Kurdish governor of Kirkuk claims Arabs control the 12th division of the Iraqi army. This division is not allowed to enter the city of Kirkuk. Recently the American K1 base was handed over to the Iraqi army. According to news reports the U.S. army will end their operations in the disputed areas upcoming month. Residents fear violence will increase in Kirkuk after the U.S. forces leave. In the meanwhile a parliamentary commission will be formed to investigate the kidnappings of doctors and the police chief in Kirkuk allegedly doesn't rule out the involvement of some elements of the security forces in kidnapping, reports Kirkuk Now.

Different Political Positions on Elections in Kirkuk

2011-07-26T00:37:00.000-07:00

Asharq al-Awsat spoke with different politicians about Kirkuk and the provincial elections. There haven’t been provincial council elections in Kirkuk since 2005 and UNAMI and the U.S. think it’s important to hold new elections to have politicians who really represent their people. Furthermore the results of the 2005 elections are in favour of Kurdish parties, since the Sunni Arabs carried out a boycott of the elections at this time.

Governor Dr. Najm al-Adin Muhammed Kerim, a Kurdish nationalist, says he is in favour of consensus between the groups and denies that Arabs are marginalized in the security forces. He argues that the head of the provincial police is Kurdish [Jamal Tahir Baker) and his deputy is a Turkmen (Hassan Torhan), while the head of the 12th division of the Iraqi army is Arabic and the majority of his officers and soldiers Arabic. The governor says together with the Kurdish Peshmerga forces and the police they are tasked to protect the security of Kirkuk and that he chairs a joint commission.

The governor called on ‘his Arab brothers’ not to put any obstacles in front of the provincial council elections. He argues it’s not in their interest to not hold elections, since ‘they are the second biggest component in the province after Kurds and Turkmen’ and suggesting that they could get more seats in the provincial council. The governor, who is also a member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (headed by the Iraqi president Jalal Talabani) says it’s necessary the Kurdish leadership does more to convince Arab and Turkmen of article 140.

But Mohammed Khalil, a member of the provincial council in Kirkuk and an Arab nationalist who thinks Kirkuk should stay ‘Iraqi’, says Arabs are marginalized in all security positions and that the soldiers of the 12th division of the Iraqi army cannot be seen as Arabs from Kirkuk, since they are sent by Baghdad. The Arab politician said they fear that Kurds will get the most votes in an election and can call for the annexation of the province to the Kurdistan region. According to the Iraqi constitution if one third of the provincial council members calls for a referendum to become an autonomous region or join another region, this is possible. At this moment it’s possible for Kurdish politicians to call for a referendum without holding elections. Khalil said there was major fraud in the last elections of 2005 and that therefore the Kurds got the most votes.

Ali Mahdi, a provincial council member for the Turkmen Front, a Turkmen nationalist party, says that they are marginalized too. He added that there are problems of land ownership between Arabs, Turkmen and Kurds and that this needs to be resolved. The Turkmen nationalist said that article 140 ended politically after the census and referendum was not implemented. He claimed the Turkmen Front wants a special status for Kirkuk and the distribution of the positions by 32% to all ethnic groups and refusing the ‘annexation of Kirkuk to Kurdistan’.

Recently Turkmen Front politicians have called for the formation of Turkmen security forces and claimed there have been a campaign against Turkmen doctors in the province. The Iraqiya list of Dr. Iyad Allawi recently called on the government to protect Turkmen and suggesting they are marginalized. Violence have however targeted all ethnic components of Kirkuk, as confirmed by the recent attack in Hawija which killed and wounded several people.

Sources:
Asharq al-Awsat http://aawsat.com
Aswat al-Iraq
Sumeria

Arab Political Council in Kirkuk Reject Iranian Bombing

2011-07-22T11:52:00.000-07:00

The Arab Political Council in Kirkuk called on the Iraqi Government to result to the UN Security Council to stop Iranian shelling of villages in the Kurdistan region, reports Xinhua. Sheikh Khalid Mafraji of the council called on the government to live up to its responsibilities, while the U.S. army is on the verge of withdrawing in September. He noted that the Arab tribes of Kirkuk are ready to take up arms to stop the bombing of the borders by Iran and Turkey. "The political differences and different points of view [between Kurdish and Arab parties over the status of Kirkuk] will not prevent those tribes to fulfull their national responsibilities to preserve the unity of Iraq, which is a country for everyone, whether Kurdish, Arab, Turkmen or Christian, and the others as well." The Kurdish villages and also some Christian villages, are exposed to constant shelling by Iran and Turkey on the pretext of fighting the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and it's Iranian offshoot, the Party for a Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK. Last Wednesday there was a demonstration in the center of Kirkuk calling on the Kurdish government to end its relations with Iran.

Arab Politicians End Boycot in Kirkuk

2011-06-13T00:38:00.000-07:00

Sheikh Abdullah Sami al-Assi told Sumera News that in a meeting held today, with Kirkuk's governor Najmadeen Kerim, Prov Council Chairman Hassan Torhan and U.S. PRT head Fletcher Burton, the four Arab members decided to end their boycott and return to their work 'in the sake of the interest of the people of Kirkuk'. The four Arab provincial council members boycotted the provincial council, after Kurdish parties and the Sunni Turkmen parties reached a deal to chair the top posts of the provincial council and the governor position. They were appointed with a majority vote on 29 March. It's not clear why the Arab politicians ended their boycott. Not all of the Arab politicians boycotted the council, because if Arab politicians boycotted the council, they had to give up their loco-governor position, which is headed by Rakaan Jibouri, who is member of the Jibour tribe. Therefore members of the Jibour tribe didn't boycott the council, but members of the al-Obeid tribe did. Still Arab politicians say these are different strategies and their position towards the status of Kirkuk remains the same. Despite of the deal between Sunni Turkmen and Kurdish parties, it seems that the position of Turkmen politicians towards the status of Kirkuk also didn't change much and they still oppose Kirkuk joining the Kurdistan region. In other news, the Arab political movement announced they would boycott elections.

Source: Kirkuk Now, SOT al-Iraq, Awsat al-Iraq

Kirkuki MP Calls on Baghdad to Free Arab Prisoners From Kurds

2011-06-08T10:20:00.000-07:00

Iraqiyya MP Omar al-Jubouri from Kirkuk claimed there are suspicious schemes to 'destroy the Arab identity of Kirkuk', suggesting this is a violation of the right of its citizens. He called on the Iraqi Central Government to help the Arabs in Kirkuk and to do something about the alleged 300 Arab prisoners in jails in the Kurdistan region.

In a old broadcast on Al Jazeera, the police denied claims of Arab politicians that the police was kidnapping Arabs. Also police chief Jamal Malla Tahir said that nobody gets arrested without warrants. Arab politicians accuse the Kurdish-dominated police of imprisoning Arab prisoners in Kurdish prisons in the Kurdistan region without any charges or court cases, but the Kurdish government denies this.

The Kurdish news agency PUKmedia reported that recently 3 suspected insurgents were arrested in Kirkuk, of which two tried to launch a rocket. Also a member of the Arab Sahwa movement was killed in Al-Rashad by a bomb (Sahwa are armed militias that were created with the help of the U.S. army to combat the insurgency). An U.S. patrol near the 12th Division of the Iraqi army in Riyadh was furthermore targeted by an IED without casualties.

Sources: PUKmedia, sotaliraq.com, aljeraan.net, Aswat al-iraq

NYT: Kirkuk Police Blaims Non-Kirkuki Militants For Violence

2011-06-05T00:42:00.000-07:00

Something which security officials and politicians of both Kurdish and Arab descent sometimes claim (Council of Hawija, Kirkuk governor, Kirkuk's police, etc):

Security officials said that Faras emerged as a low-level leader of the insurgency in Kirkuk, perhaps Iraq’s most fiercely contested city, where ethnic tensions among Arabs, Kurds, Turkmens and Christians frequently erupt into violence. Although the killings have receded in recent years, the police noticed a recent spike in attacks that they attributed to an influx of militants from the northern city of Mosul, from Diyala in the east and from Sunni Muslim areas of Samarra and Tikrit just north of Baghdad.

More: As Iraqi Militants Flee, Families Are Targets of Blood Reckoning

Furthermore Kirkuk's police chief warned last Thursday that after the 6 June there could be increased violence, demonstrations. On 6 June the 100 days deadline of Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki to improve government performance will expire. The police chief claimed insurgent groups all united to increase bombings and kidnappings. We'll first have to see on 6 June if these threats will materialize.

Kirkuk’s Arab Politicians Reject ‘Partition’ of Iraq

2011-06-03T03:12:00.000-07:00

The Arab Political Council in Kirkuk rejected calls to implement Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution, by the Kurdish Parliamentary Speaker Kemal Kirkuki. The Council described it as a ploy to divided Iraq and claimed the article was outdated. Kirkuki told Aswat al-Iraq before that the Kurds would resort to sit-ins similar to what happened in Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen to demand for the implementation of article 140, which includes a referendum about the future of the disputed territories. This referendum would decide if Kirkuk would join the Kurdistan region or remain with Baghdad, but so far hasn’t been implemented by Baghdad. The Arab Council called on the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, led by President Jalal Talabani, on the occasion of 36th anniversary of its establishment to release Arab prisoners in Kurdish prisons. The council called for the implementation of Article 23 of the Provincial Elections Law, which divides the number of seats equally among the ethnic groups in the Provincial Council of Kirkuk. Tribal leader Sheikh Abdul Rahman al-Assi told Aswat al-Iraq that the Arabs and Turkmen refuse the article, ‘which would divide the country. He said that statements should be avoided that underminded the stability of the region. Sheikh Abdul Rahman al-Assi called said in January 21 that Arab citizens would no longer stand idle by and would launch a Tunisian revolution against Kurdish security forces in Kirkuk. But the Arab politicians failed to mobilize its supporters against the Kurdish security forces and the police imposed a curfew to prevent further protests late February and in the beginning of March.

Sources: Sumeria TV, Aswat al-Iraq, Radio Sahwa

Arab List Allegedly Demands Removal of UNAMI Office in Kirkuk

2011-06-02T12:34:00.000-07:00

Mohammed Khalil al-Jibouri, head of the Arab bloc in the Kirkuk Provincial Council, in a statement to Dar al-Hayat criticized the work of UNAMI and questioned the abilities of the UNAMI to solve any issues in Kirkuk. This statement came after a visit of UNAMI-head Ad Melkert. Aswat al-Iraq reported that the Arab list demanded the closure of the UNAMI office in Kirkuk for selectively dealing with Arabs in the province. Radhia Achouri, a spokesperson for UNAMI, said that the UNAMI works on the principle of neutrality and said the UNAMI wants to find concrete solutions to all outstanding issues. The statement is probable a result of the call of UNAMI to hold provincial elections in Kirkuk. The Arab list prefers to divide the Provincial Council according to an ethnic quota of 32% seats for Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen and the rest of the seats for Christians. This is based on Article 23 of the Iraqi Provincial Election Law, which was a temporary measure to divide seats until the provincial elections take place. This was however blocked by the Kurds. The Arab list earlier claimed that its too early for elections and that article 23 should be implemented. The Kurdish parties want the implementation of article 140, which was also stalled.

Hilterman: Negotiations Only Solution for Kirkuk

2011-06-02T09:51:00.000-07:00

Joost Hilterman, one of the best experts on Iraq, and member of the International Crisis Group, wrote an interesting article about a solution for the dispute in Kirkuk. He said there is no peaceful alternative to negotiations leading to a sustainable consensus-based compromise on the status of Kirkuk between the government in Erbil and Baghdad. One thing he got wrong is that 'Kirkuki politicians of all stripes have called for an extension of the US troop presence in Iraq'. Members of the Iraqi Council in Kirkuk, like Sheikh Abdullah al-Assi, said that 'Arabs completely reject the U.S. forces in Iraq' (Aswat al-Iraq, 13 March). They accuse them of kidnapping Arabs and I guess that Arab politicians seem to think that the U.S. is cooperating too much with Kurdish security forces. They weren't too happy with the U.S. plan of joint Kurdish-Arab security forces in the disputed forces, which they claimed legitimized the presence of Kurdish armed forces in Kirkuk. Although the U.S. demanded the withdrawal of Kurdish Peshmerga forces, that were sent to Kirkuk, after demonstrations in the city.

Here is an op-ed from me about the ICG and their ideas about Kirkuk. And this is my latest article with reactions of Iraqi and Kurdish security officials to the last ICG report about the disputed territories.

Kirkuk’s Political Parties Divided Over Local Elections

2011-05-29T01:12:00.000-07:00

Kirkuk Now reports Wednesday there will be a meeting to discuss holding elections in Kirkuk with representatives of the Provincial Council, Iraq parliament and Kurdistan region. Kirkuk’s Governor Najmaldin Karim said its necessary to hold elections. “Kirkuk is the only province that didn’t have elections since two years.”

The governing council of Kirkuk was elected in 2005, but a partial boycott of the elections left Arabs severely underrepresented. Both the current council and the population have recognized the need to elect a more representative body, Karim said in a speech in Washington, but disagreements over the composition of the voter list and a lack of action from Baghdad have delayed new elections.

A Turkmen Provincial Council member Qassim Hamza expressed his support for elections, but said he wants the seats to be distributed equally to the three maintain ethnic groups of the city. With 10 seats for Arabs, 10 for Kurds and 10 for Turkmen, with one remaining seat for Christians.

An Arab politician of the Kirkuk Provincial Council Mohammed Kadr said ‘Arabs have doubts of holding elections at the present time’. He claimed there is an abnormal increase in the number of voters registered in Kirkuk and claimed there was fraud. He called on the application of Article 23. Article 23 of the Iraqi Provincial Election Law, which stipulates equal distribution, of 32 percent, among the three main ethnic groups, based on population data and is supported by Turkmen and Arab politicians.

Elections in Kirkuk were postponed as a result of disagreements over power sharing between the ethnic groups in Kirkuk. Kirkuk was one of only four provinces that did not hold provincial elections when they last took place nationwide in January 2009. More about this on Kurdish Globe.

UNAMI recently called for speeding up talks for holding the Provincial Elections in Kirkuk.

Arab Politician Rejects Creation of Hawija Province

2011-05-27T11:23:00.000-07:00

Sheikh Abdullah Sami al-Assi rejected claims that there is a proposal to create a province of the Arab-dominate district of Hawija in Kirkuk. Abdullah Sami al-Assi, a member of the Provincial Council, told Radio Saahwa that the division of the Kirkuk province is unacceptable and said that the Arabs of Kirkuk reject this. Also the president of the local council in Hawija, Hussein Ali Salih, rejected the proposal. He claimed the proposal was likely coming from Kurdish parties and that it was nothing more than ‘nonsense’. Hawija is the largest district of Kirkuk and predominantly Sunni Arab.

Video of Kirkuk Bomb Attack 19 May

2011-05-27T05:09:00.000-07:00

Watch at your own discretion, highly disturbing content. Video´s thanks to Qais Qazaz.

Video 1:

Video 2:

Rumour: Kurdish Gunmen Try to Force Out Non-Kirkuki Arabs

2011-05-27T00:50:00.000-07:00

Police checks ID of labour migrants from mostly Mosul near Altun Köprü police station

According to rumours circulating in Iraqi media, armed groups belonging to Kurdish security services notified owners of hotels in Kirkuk not to allow Arabs from Central and South-Iraq to get in their hotels. According to AK News the men were allegedly Asayish officers. But Kirkuk police Chief Major General Jamal Taher denied this was the case and said his police was not involved in these kind of acts. Some people (both Arabs and Kurds) told me they think that the recent insurgent attacks in Kirkuk are the result of the influx of displaced from other Iraqi provinces like Mosul, Baghdad and Salahadeen.

I interviewed some of these people when their IDs were checked by the police in Altun Kopru. They seemed to be poor farmers who couldn't get a job in Mosul. They themselves didn't hide the fact that some insurgent groups might use this migration from one province to another, to stage attacks.

Al Jazeera Arabic interviewed a Kirkuk Provincial Council Member Mohammed Nassif Jubouri, who said insurgents carry weapons licensed by political parties and the state and accused political parties of being behind the violence. The Arab politician said that the recent attacks are causes by the inefficiency of security agencies and claimed that these actions are used to empty the Kirkuk city from Arabs, whether residents or visitors from other parts of Iraq. He said this is a ‘well-known political agenda’.

Furthermore he claimed the security services are dominated by the Kurds and not other ethnic groups and that the 12th division of the Iraqi army is not allowed to contribute to the protection of the city. The police denies being dominated by one ethnic component. Two police chiefs of Kirkuk city are Kurdish and one is Turkmen, but the Arab-dominated regions also have local Arab police chiefs.

One police captain told Kirkuk Now News agency that the security situation can be solved by implementing article 140, which is opposed by Kirkuk's Arab parties and Turkomen parties.

Kirkuk Politicians Take Measures Against Recent Violence

2011-05-25T08:29:00.000-07:00

Photo: Kirkuk Now

Al Sumaria News, Aswat al-Iraq, Kirkuk Now and KUNA news agency report that the Provincial Council had an extraordinary meeting today to discuss security. Also security chiefs participated. They decided to allocate a budget to install surveillance cameras in the streets (with the assistance of international companies) and to take strict measures at checkpoints. Furthermore the Provincial Council called on the Iraqi PM to appoint a Security Minister as fast as possible and discussed plans for better cooperation between Iraqi police, army and U.S. forces.

Monday Al-Rashad police captain Ahmed Abdul Ghafour was killed, when a car bomb targeted his convoy. The Kirkuk province witnessed continued acts of violence aimed at the security services and civilians. According to a police officer I spoke to violence was at a low-level some months ago, but it recently increased.

Photo: Kirkuk Now

Furthermore the local council in Hawija had a meeting with villages about the security situation and other local issues, reports Kirkuk Now. Participants were local members of the judicial council, representatives of 50 villages, a police chief and representatives of national security in the city. The meeting comes after several assassination attempts on the police. According to Kirkuk Now most of the groups behind the insecurity were displaced people from Diyala and Mosul.

Continued Attacks, Kirkuk Citizens Want Peace

2011-05-22T23:52:00.000-07:00

Two civilians were killed and 12 injured when the police chief of al-Rashaad, Captain Ahmed Abdul-Ghafoor, was targeted. Furthermore two soldiers were killed and two wounded in an explosion targeting an army patrol in the same area. An officer, a lieutenant and two soldiers were killed Sunday evening targeted their convoy in the village near the area of Sulaiman Bek in Tuz Khurmato. In the industrial zone south of Kirkuk Mohammed Hassan and his daughter were killed by three unidentified gunmen. The corpse of an unknown person was found in Kirkuk on Sunday, while a civilian was hurt in a tribal clash in the south of the city of Kirkuk. Another civilian was killed by 3 gunmen. His name was Ahmed Adel Hussein Ahmed and he sold fuel on the streets.

Civilians told the Kirkuk Now agency that they want piece. Abu Achmed (50) owner of one of the markets near the recent three bomb attacks against the Kirkuk police, said that 'these explosions will never affects us, we love life and we will continue our daily practises." Muhammed Shukor (34) who is married with two children said every time 'terrorism' in Kirkuk targets civilians and security men, but we will continue to live in this city with all our brothers and sisters and communities, despite of those who threat security and stability. Another civilian Amaiwil Mikhail (24) said the people of Kiruk want to live in peace. "Why they do not let us live? What do they want of us? If their goal was to stop life in the city, I think they are wrong, because we will stay together and live together. Christians, Muslims, Arabs and Kurds."

Up to 28 people were killed and some 90 others wounded when a bomb and a car bomb exploded coordinately in Kirkuk on Thursday May 19, police sources indicated.

Kurdish Peshmerga Spokesperson Jabbar Yawar claimed the Iraqi military is still not ready to replace the U.S. army and called for control of the security situation in Kirkuk. He claimed joint forces of Iraqi Army, Peshmerga and U.S. forces achieved great successes since 2010.

Kurdish Prime Minister Barham Salih indicated that its better U.S. forces will stay in Iraq until the political problems related to the disputed areas are solved.

Sources: Kirkuk Now, Aswat al-Iraq, DPA, Sotaliraq.com, Iraq 4 All News

Kirkuk Update: Arab Official Reject Joint Forces In Kirkuk

2011-05-21T23:21:00.000-07:00

Hussein Ali Saleh al-Juburi, head of the judicial council in Hawija, in a press statement on Saturday said the Kirkuk's Arabs reject the joint forces of Kurds, Arabs (Iraqi police, army and Peshmerga) and said the Iraqi army and just the police should be responsible for security and claimed Kirkuk's Arabs will hold PM Nouri al-Maliki responsible for this. The joint forces were created to replace the U.S. army after the withdrawal and before, to prevent clashes to happen between Kurds and Arabs. But Arab nationalists in Kirkuk see the forces as a legitimization of the presence of Kurdish security forces and want it to be replaced by the Iraqi army. While police say it improved cooperation between security organizations (In the past the Iraqi army and police almost didn't have any contacts). Furthermore Jiboeri said that Turkmen and Arabs are marginalized within the police of Kirkuk and that the Sunni Arab militia Al-Sahwa and the 12th division of the Iraqi army made the southwest of Kirkuk the most safe part of Kirkuk, while the recent attacks show the city is becoming more safer. A U.S. base between the road of Hawija and Riyadh was handed over to the Iraqi army around a week ago and the U.S. ambassador James Jeffrey visited Kirkuk to discuss the security file and promised that U.S. forces will stay in Kirkuk. Furthermore he talked about the possible opening of an U.S. consulate in Kirkuk. In separate attacks on Saturday seven people were killed in Kirkuk, including police, civilians and soldiers. Thursday around 28 people were killed and 90 wounded in three bomb attacks targeting the police in Kirkuk. UNAMI-head Ad Melkert expressed his concerns about the recent deterioration of the security of Kirkuk and called on all political parties to work together. On Monday 9 representatives of the Kirkuk Provincial Council will participate in a conference about Cities in Transition.

Sources: Dar al-Hayat, AFP, albawwaba.net, Awsat al-Iraq, Rudaw.net (22 May/21 May).

Anti-government protests in Kurdistan region

2011-02-19T07:44:00.001-08:00

Pic from pro-opposition website Sbeiy.com

The recent days there were protests in Suleymaniyah inspired by Tunisia and Egypt. The Kurdish opposition party Gorran have been calling for demonstrations for days. Here is a recent report from Rudaw.net. There seems to be some problems with the website, so I repost it here:

“We are all Rezhwan!” read one demonstrator’s banner Saturday, referring to the 14-year-old student demonstrator, who was killed by Iraqi Kurdish security forces in the city of Sulaimani on Thursday, after hundreds of protesters tried to storm the headquarters of one of Kurdistan’s two ruling parties.

Just two days after the bloody protest, more than a thousand students and general citizens again protested here in Sulaimani, objecting to the death of at least one student and the injury of more than 50 others, caused by bullets fired by security forces affiliated with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), led by Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani.

Twelve more had reportedly been injured by Saturday evening. Large numbers of heavily armed security forces, including thousands of KDP soldiers from Erbil, have been deployed in most of Sulaimani’s streets, according to government and party officials and Rudaw correspondents in Sulaimani. Just as on Thursday, demonstrators called for an improvement in services such as electricity, but there were also anti-government slogans demanding reform from the authorities, with some calling on the government to step down.

Simultaneously, in Khanaqin – a disputed town inhabited predominately by Kurds in Dyala province – several hundred other students from the College of Arts, wearing black clothes, demonstrated over similar issues.

After Thursday’s protest, some officials from the ruling parties accused Iraqi Kurdistan’s major opposition party, Gorran, of being behind the protest, particularly when it became violent, with some protesters throwing rocks at the KDP headquarters’ windows.

In a move which appeared to be a reaction to events in Sulaimani, a number of KDP supporters, some of them armed, on Thursday set two Gorran offices in Erbil on fire. The KDP denied any involvement in the incident. But the deputy chairman of the KDP, Nechirvan Barzani, did not point the blame at any specific political party on Friday.

In a press conference he described protesters’ demands for political and economic reform as legitimate. However, he said that Kurdistan was “very far from” Tunisia and Egypt and that the Kurdish leaders and government were elected in free and fair elections. “I urge you to consider that we do not accuse any political party or organization of committing those crimes,” said Barzani, referring to the attack on his party’s headquarters, at which point the demonstration turned bloody with the firing of bullets into the mob of young protesters.

“We want those issues investigated.” Barzani added that it was not fair to attack the KDP headquarters in Sulaimani, because he said the party was not responsible for the corruption and lack of electricity in the city, which was dominated by the PUK and Gorran, adding that the attack on the KDP office was politically motivated. “We want to know who did it because we know it was preplanned,” said Barzani, confirming that a number of Zeravai forces, loyal to the KDP, were sent to Sulaimani to help maintain order in the city, which included protecting the KDP’s offices in the city.

But many people here in Sulaimani city, where Gorran is the most popular political party, have voiced concern regarding the deployment of KDP-affiliated forces in the city and said that they believed the forces are there to launch an attack on Gorran’s headquarters, based on Sulaimani’s Zargata Hill.

Right after the deployment of the forces, hundreds of unarmed Gorran supporters gathered around the hill in order to prevent any possible assault from the ruling parties on Gorran’s main office and satellite television station, KNN, which has played a significant role in rousing people’s anger against the government. Hundreds of demonstrators protesting in Sulaimani’s Bar Darqi Sara Square have not only called for the KDP troops to go to back to Erbil, but have also demanded all political parties to close their headquarters in the city.

Some described Bar Darqi Sara as Iraqi Kurdistan’s “Tahir Square,” the name of the town square in Cairo where Egyptians protested for 18 days until they toppled former President Hosni Mubarak’s autocratic regime.

Faruq Rafiq, a prominent Kurdish author, took part in Saturday’s protest, which appeared to be smaller than Thursday’s. In a statement, Rafiq said the KDP officials in Sulaimani who ordered the shooting, and those who did the actual shooting, must be prosecuted. Meanwhile, anti-Kurdistan government demonstrations have also been occurring in Europe.

In London, for instance, about a hundred people demonstrated in front of the Kurdistan Regional Government’s office, and some stormed the building. The handful of demonstrators reportedly took control of the office for an hour, but later were expelled by the British police.

“Freedom cannot be silenced,” read one banner held by Kurdish expatriate demonstrators in London. “Seven or eight men and women started knocking on our office door,” said Bayan Sami Abdul-Rahman, KRG’s representative to the United Kingdom. “They were very uncivilized and started swearing at us.” Ms Abdul-Rahman said that KRG’s representation in London was back to normal work on Friday. President Barzani, who has come under sever criticism from the Sulaimani protesters, with some calling him a dictator who should step down, issued a statement, saying the attack on his party’s headquarters was the work of some who “were determined to undermine the stability” of the semiautonomous region of Kurdistan in northern Iraq.

“While it is clear that a very small group of people are determined to undermine the stability of the region and detract from the significant economic, social and political progress it has made over the last decade, a much greater number of our people are mindful of their intentions and stand united in determination to overcome any move towards violence or chaos,” said Barzani. “I call on the KRG to open an immediate investigation into this incident and hold those responsible for today’s violence accountable.”

A statement by Gorran leader, Nawshirwan Mustafa, on Thursday not only denied Gorran being behind the protest, but also harshly condemned the attack on the KDP’s headquarters. It also described those who had thrown rocks at the building as “saboteurs.” While the demonstrations here are in part inspired by those in Egypt and the broader Middle East, people here have generally not been as extreme as those in the Middle East, where citizens called for entire regime changes. What they have asked for instead is a broad range of political and economic reform, including an end to corruption and nepotism associated with the ruling parties.

Ruling officials, such as Barzani, have recognized these demands, calling on the government to carry out reform. In addition, on Friday, Nechirvan Barzani said that problems could only be resolved “at table” with dialogue and not “on the streets” and “in newspaper pages.”

Rozh Ahmad contributed reporting from the United Kingdom, and other Rudaw correspondents contributed from Sulaimani.

More about the events can be read from an activist blogger here and from a pro opposition activist here. Or follow my Twitter account.

Wikileaks: Russia Might Be Arming PKK

2010-12-01T14:50:00.000-08:00

A senior Spanish investigator alleged to the US that Moscow's strategy was to use "organised crime groups to do whatever the government of Russia cannot acceptably do as a government". Recent operations included gun-running to the Kurds "in an attempt to destabilise Turkey" and "arms trafficking" in the mysterious Arctic Sea cargo ship hijacking in 2009, the Guardian reports.

The quote from Wikileaks:

As an example, he cited Kalashov, whom he said worked for Russian military intelligence to sell weapons to the Kurds to destabilize Turkey. Grinda claimed that the GOR takes the relationship with OC leaders even further by granting them the privileges of politics, in order to grant them immunity from racketeering charges.

Earlier before the Turkish army said 72 percent of the Kalashnikovs used by the PKK are from Russia, 15 percent from China and the rest from Hungary and Bulgaria. There were also claims by the Turkish intelligence service a PKK leader had talks with Russian arms dealers and negotiated the sale of Russian-made rockets. Therefore Turkish diplomacy was focused on convincing Russia to end alleged support for the PKK.

There was also a claim a Russian national was part of a PKK hit squad that killed police officers in Turkey in July 2010. According to analyst Svante Cornell Russia utilized the PKK as a lever against Turkey to deter possible Turkish support for Chechen insurgents. He also claims that the Soviet Union used to support the PKK in the 1980s.

Wikileaks: Mossad Wanted to Use Kurds Against Iran

2010-11-30T09:29:00.000-08:00

Documents leaked on Sunday by Wikileaks suggest Mossad chief Meir Dagan wanted to use Kurds and ethnic minorities to topple the Iranian government. The Israeli spy service wants to have a weak divided Iran, like in Iraq where the Kurds have their own government, the spy chief told an U.S. official.

According to a memo from August 2007, Dagan described to Under-Secretary of State Nicholas Burns the five pillars of Israel's Iran policy, among them the desire to spark a revolution. The memo notes, ‘instability in Iran is driven by inflation and tension among ethnic minorities. This, Dagan said, “presents unique opportunities, and Israelis and Americans might see a change in Iran in their lifetimes.”

Dagan notes that Iran could end up like Iraq. “As for Iraq, it may end up a weak, federal state comprised of three cantons or entities, one each belonging to the Kurds, Sunnis and Shias.” He added that Iran's minorities are "raising their heads, and are tempted to resort to violence."

There are several Iranian Kurdish opposition groups. The Party for Free Life in Kurdistan (PJAK) is based in the border mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan and carried out several attacks against Iranian forces in the Kurdish regions of Iran. The party is closely linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

Often Iran accused PJAK and other Kurdish nationalist groups from Iran for being supported by Israel, but so far they have denied this support. Also U.S. and Israel denied supporting PJAK. The U.S. Treasury branded the PJAK as a terrorist organization last year. Furthermore the journalist Seymour Hersh also claims U.S. supports PJAK and other Iranian opposition groups.

Selective media in conflicts?

2010-11-23T04:40:00.000-08:00

I forgot to bookmark the comments of human rights activist Uri Avnery, so that's why I post them on this blog. He says that the media ignores some intrastate conflicts and promote others. There is some truth in it.

"Why do the world’s media adopt one independence struggle, but often cynically ignore another independence struggle? What makes the blood of one Tibetan redder than the blood of a thousand Africans in East Congo?

* Do the people seeking independence have an especially exotic culture?

* Are they an attractive people, i.e. “sexy” in the view of the media?

* Is the struggle headed by a charismatic personality who is liked by the media?

* It the oppressing government disliked by the media?

* Does the oppressing government belong to the pro-American camp? This is an important factor, since the United States dominates a large part of the international media, and its news agencies and TV networks largely define the agenda and the terminology of the news coverage.

* Are economic interests involved in the conflict?

* Does the oppressed people have gifted spokespersons, who are able to attract attention and manipulate the media?"

Dutch Gov’t: No Reason To Assume Turkey Used Chemical Weapons Against Kurds

2010-10-05T02:21:00.000-07:00

The Dutch Foreign Ministry issued a response on 6 September to questions of Dutch MPs Joel Voordewind (Christian Union) and Harry van Bommel (SP) about the alleged use of chemical weapons by Turkey. According to the Dutch government there is no proof that Turkey uses chemical weapon against Kurds.

12 August Der Spiegel reported that German experts confirmed the authenticity of photographs that purport to show PKK fighters killed by chemical weapons. But the Dutch Foreign Ministry wrote that it’s incorrect the Institut für Rechtsmedizin des Universitätsklinikums Hamburg-Eppendorf suggested the photos were authentic. According to a press statement of the institute the pictures do not prove anything, nor the date nor the use of chemical weapons.

Therefore the Dutch authorities say there is ‘no reason to assume that Turkey has chemical weapons or that Turkey used this weapons in a confrontation with Kurdish insurgents.’ The Dutch government says if there is any proof that Turkey violates the Chemical Weapons Treatment, Holland will ask for an explanation.

The PKK has often accused Turkey of using chemical weapons. Following the report in Der Spiegel, several politicians and organizations asked for clarifications from Turkey. Turkey denied the accusations.

Kurds Do Not Trust Turkish Security Institutions: Pew Survey

2010-09-24T03:03:00.000-07:00

(Photo: guardian.co.uk)

Confidence in military has dropped steeply among Turkey’s Kurdish population, according to a recent survey from the Pew Research Center about Turkey. The survey also suggests Kurds do not trust the Turkish national police and love the European Union.

The recent Pew Global Attitudes Survey conducted in April 12-30 reveals Turks are downbeat about their institutions. It also revealed the attitude of the country’s Kurdish minority.

According to the Survey the support for the EU is low. 28% of the Turks look favorably to the EU, while also the support for joining the EU has declined: in 2005, 68% of Turks wanted their country to become an EU member; today, a slim 54% majority holds this view. But the Kurds are much more pro-European than the rest of the population. About half (49%) express a favorable opinion of the EU and eight-in-ten favor EU membership for Turkey.
The Survey also showed confidence of the Turkish Kurds in Turkey’s security institutions is very negative. Confidence in the military has dropped most steeply among the Kurds -- just 37% of Kurds give the military a positive rating, compared with 64% in the 2007 poll. Still the majority of the Turks is positive about the Turkish military (72%), but in 2007 this number was still 85%. And the number of Turks who believe the military is having a very good impact has declined from 57% to 30% over this period.

The police receive the second highest ratings of Turkish institutions, with 68% of Turks saying the police are having a good influence on the way things are going. The police receive especially favorable ratings from AKP supporters (84% good). But relatively few Kurds (39% good) offer a positive assessment.

Kurds in Turkey comprise approximately one-fifth of the population. The majority of Kurds live in Turkey’s southeast, but many Kurds have immigrated to other parts of Turkey. According to the Minority Risk Index (MAR) the situation of the Kurds in Turkey has slightly improved in the past few years, although significant obstacles remain, including serious discrimination.

PKK Festival on Saturday in Germany

2010-09-16T05:36:00.000-07:00

PKK organizations (YEK-KOM) organize the 18th International Festival of Kurdish Culture in Cologne. PKK organizations organized transportation from several EU countries. Sometime these buses are stopped at the German border. The festival is focused on freedom for the imprisoned PKK-leader Abdullah Öcalan and 'securing our existence and winning our freedom' (referring to keeping the Kurdish identity alive in Turkey). It will probable celebrate the recent 'boycott victory' in Turkey (most Kurdish regions boycotted the referendum of the Turkish government), remembering the military coup of 12th September in Turkey, autonomy in Turkey and more cultural rights for Kurds in turkey. The festival is also dedicated to five Kurds (alleged PJAK/PKK-members) who were executed in Iran. According to Der Spiegel there is a huge support based for the PKK in Germany, which is home to an estimated 500,000 Kurds. It's also likely there will be a speech of senior PKK leader Murat Karayilan (through a satellite connection). I myself don't have time to go, since I have to lead a workshop in Amsterdam about peace and security. The event is interesting to see how the PKK mobilizes its grass root support.

No Islamic Solidarity For Kosovo

2010-09-11T12:59:00.000-07:00

While a lot of Islamic countries and Islamic political movements care about the Palestinians, they seem to ignore Kosovo. They don't want to damage their ties to China and Russia (both are against separatism and interference in sovereignty concerning human rights). While Palestine remains a focus point of Islamic movements and governments, they seem to ignore Islamic minorities in other countries, like Russia and China and seem to follow their own interests. Pure realism and no Islamic solidarity. Therefore Kosovo's grand mufti, Naim Tërnava, is now lobbying all over the world.

The list of countries that have failed to recognise Kosovo is surprising: almost all of Latin America, three quarters of the African Union countries and most of the members of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC). In the case of the OIC, anti-American sentiment has proved stronger than solidarity with a country with a Muslim majority: Kosovo’s secession is seen as the result of a decision taken in Washington. Only countries with strong ties to the US have recognised or said they will recognise Kosovo – Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Turkey (which has historically had privileged relations with Kosovo).
Maghreb countries and avowed opponents of US policy such as Syria, Libya or Iran have sided with Serbia.

Congressional Report says Turkish Govt Managed Kurdish Opening Poorly

2010-09-09T02:36:00.000-07:00

Carol Migdalovitz, a Middle-East expert, has written a new report for the US congress, suggesting that the government of the ruling Justice and Development Party of Turkey (AKP) have a poor management of it’s “Kurdish opening”.

Read more here.
Full report here.

Pro-gov't Newspapers Try to Hurt Image of Turkish Nationalist Opposition

2010-09-04T01:48:00.000-07:00

Photo: the alleged document that shows Turkey was supporting Talabani and Barzani.

Pro-AKP newspapers Star and Sabah report that Turkey aided the Iraqi Kurdish parties KDP and PUK during the 57th coalition government against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which also included Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli. The aid between 1992-2000 amounted to $65 million by 2000. The publication of the news comes just before the vote on the referendum, which will take place on September 12. The MHP is the second biggest opposition party against the constitutional amendment law of the AKP-government. The aim of the publication is to hurt the nationalist image of the MHP. The MHP opposes any reforms regarding the Kurdish minority in Turkey and also opposes ties with the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq. Two years ago Bahçeli suggested that 'the mastermind of terrorism is Barzani; its executive center is in the Kandil Mountains and the Justice and Development Party [AK Party] is courting it," (Today's Zaman, 15.10.2008). But now that Turkish newspapers show that the MHP itself supported arming the Iraqi Kurdish parties against PKK, which will damage the image of the party. Earlier Islamic newspapers tried to hurt the image of MHP suggesting there were ties between the PKK and MHP drugs dealers. There are also allegations that the MHP politicians invested in the Kurdistan region. This seems plausible, since even companies close to the Turkish army are active in the Kurdistan region. There are also allegations the Turkish army supported the launch of KDP's television station Kurdistan TV against the PKK's tv station Roj TV.

More can be read in Today's Zaman in English or at Star Daily in Turkish.

Iran and USA Have Some Mutual Interests

2010-08-29T03:01:00.000-07:00

Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdul Mahdi makes an interesting point in an interview with Newsweek:

Here in Iraq we always had a sense that there was some tacit understanding between the United States and Iran. From the beginning, they were the two big countries trying to patronize the project in Iraq. Iran and the United States recognized the Governing Council. There was a clear intervention from the United States to attack Saddam Hussein and overthrow him. The Iranians helped the operations in some way. And then in the Constitution issue—they both supported it. There is some tacit understanding, and mutual interests.

The point is that both the Taliban in Afghanistan and Saddam Hussein in Iraq were the biggest enemies of the Iranian state. The Northern Alliance that helped the US to fight the Taliban, had good ties to Iran. Just as a lot of Shi'a Iraqi parties that helped the US in Iraq had good ties with Iran, like the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq. The USA eliminated both the Taliban and the Ba'ath party in Iraq, but there are also some indications that USA tried to military surround Iran in case of a war. Despite of this, the US made it possible for Iran to become a regional 'super power'.

Iran also felt threatened by the activist policy of the government of Bush (bringing democracy to the Middle-East), just like Syria. Both allegedly aided insurgents in Iraq against the US military presence. In Afghanistan Iran also kept a foot on the ground and has good ties with the Shi'a Hazaras. But Iran was also accused of supporting some Taliban factions against the US, despite the fact the Taliban were their mortal enemies. Iran also hosted or kept members of Osama Bin Laden's family hostage and was also accused of 'have tried to turn Al Qaeda to their will, by carrot or stick'. It's possible that Iran backed some factions against the US in Afghanistan, but in the meanwhile also supported factions supportive of the US (Northern Alliance), just as they did in Iraq. In the past Iran didn't have any problems of supporting the Kurdish political party PUK at the same time, while also supporting the Wahabi Sunnis of Ansar al-Islam. Both PUK and Ansar al-Islam fought each other and Ansar al-Islam was partially destroyed with American support, but still have some militants near the Iran-Iraq border. Iran didn't have any problems with supporting Ansar, despite the fact that the Wahabi hate the Shi'a and that Ansar al-Islam destroyed Suffi shrines at the border. Iran also supports Hamas in Palestine, despite they are more Sunni.

This shows that Iran tries to have influence both among anti-American and 'American supported' groups. Iran isn't making any bets and tries to have influence among most political fractions.

Israeli Commandos May Be Launched From Kurdistan

2010-08-23T07:33:00.000-07:00

Another claim Israel could use the Kurdistan region of Iraq in case of a war with Iran or Israeli air strikes against Iran. Earlier a think tank said the same. That's why some Iraqi Kurds fear a war between Israel and Iran, suggesting that Iran's first rockets will head to the Kurdish capital of Erbil, for their close ties to the USA and alleged ties with Israel. Kurdish officials denied that Kurdistan can be used by Israel and also deny relations with the Israeli state. The Iraqi Kurdish parties maintain ties with both USA and also Iran. Especially the PUK has good relations with Iran. Recently Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned that his country would respond to any attack on the, after increased reports about a possible attack against Iran.

From Jeffrey Goldberg's September cover story:

The commandos—who, according to intelligence sources, may be launched from the autonomous Kurdish territory in northern Iraq—would be facing a treacherous challenge, but one military planner I spoke with said the army would have no choice but to send them.

But Marc Lynch thinks this is not a good idea, "I do not find Goldberg's notion of Israeli commandos quickly darting in from Iraqi Kurdistan to check things out especially reassuring."

According to Indyk it's more likely US will bomb Iran than Israel.

Tea and Politics In Iraqi Kurdistan's Iskan Street

2010-08-16T16:39:00.000-07:00

In the 'Iskan street' of the Kurdish capital of Erbil people drink and eat late at night. Especially during Islamic fasting month Ramadan. They discuss rumours, politics and social issues. Especially people complain about failed governance in the Kurdistan region and corruption. My friend always brings me here to meet up with the local people who just speak Kurdish and do not enjoy the luxuries as the politicians here.

Suddenly, I got into a discussion about journalism. Kurds always seems to ask me what I think about their region and political situation. I told them: there are not many real journalists here. The journalists here never went to a school to learn journalism. They just become a journalist without training. But here they consider someone as a real journalist, if he is brave enough to speak out against the government. This I consider as activism. This is not journalism (which should be neutral and non-biased, based on facts). One of the most outspoken activists (or journalist) here, Nabaz Goran, fled to Sweden. He was mentioned in many press freedom reports and got sick of his own country after being attacked several times. He made himself unpopular for some and popular for others, by attacking politicians with his writings.

Its good to speak with the 'normal' people, instead of only the politicians and diplomats, who mostly give a rosy picture and deny the grim reality of the post-conflict region. Most of the time the people don't see the more bigger picture: the failed governance is not something unique. You can see this in a lot of countries, in which rebels take over the government (see South-Africa or Kosovo). The Kurdish region has a lot of oil and this creates a lot of problems and corruption, just as in other resource rich regions. The oil curse has hit Iraq and Kurdistan badly and made the people dependent on government jobs and lazy: they demand and demand, while politicians enjoy the benefits. This is what the activist write about: why the people don't get the money? I would love to write more about this, but I'm already tired. The problem here in Iskan is that 5 minutes is one hour, 10 minutes is two hours, and 15 minutes is three hours. My friend told me five minutes, and I didn't believe him. Still it was an interesting night.

Turkey Demands 300 PKK Members From EU

2010-08-03T02:23:00.000-07:00

The Turkish government asked the European Union to extradite 300
PKK members to Turkey. Turkey also asked the European union to
prosecute PKK members with an European nationality reports the Turkish
media.

Turkey also demanded from the EU to withdraw residence permits from
PKK members and to extradite them to Turkey.

In a meeting last month the Turkish representative demanded a
different attitude from the European Union against the PKK. “We want a
formal and judicial approach,” the representative asked EU’s
Counterterrorism Coordinator Gilles de Kerchove and European Union’s
Ankara,

In the past European courts often refused to back the deportation of
PKK-members, saying the PKK members could risk torture in Turkey.

Religious agents in Iran still important

2010-07-30T01:29:00.000-07:00

My article about 'religious agents in Iran' was published in the journal Sociology of Islam & Muslim Society of the Portland State University. It can be read here and here. An article about almost the same subject was published about this subject by Foreign Affairs, but the author is a bit too positive about the future of the Green movement. But still it also shows the Green Movement is part of other 'revolutions' in Iranian history and that Islamic agents (I don't mean spies, but politicians) still play a dominant role in both the opposition and in the pro-government circles of Iran. Secular groups play a less prominent role.

Think-Tank Suggests Kurdistan Will Enhance Possible Israeli Attack on Iran

2010-07-26T15:05:00.000-07:00

Israel commandos (Source: topnews.in)

A British think-tank suggests that the Kurdistan Region of Iraq could be useful for Israel to launch any prospect attacks on the nuclear facilities of Iran.

In a report titled “Military Action against Iran: Impact and Effects,” by the London—based Oxford Research Group, says if Israel decides in the coming months to take military action in order to pre-empt Iran developing nuclear weapons, it is like to have to inform the United States government in advance.

“Support facilities in the Kurdish region of north-east Iraq would greatly aid effective action. Given tacit US approval, and bearing in mind the relatively small number of long-range strike aircraft available, Israel might also use conventionally-armed land-based ballistic missiles….and quite possibly armed UAVs staging from north-east Iraq or Azerbaijan,” said the report.

However, the report rules out using military operations as a means of responding to its possible nuclear weapons ambitions since it is probably unfruitful in preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, and could lead to a prolonged war.

"The consequences of such an attack would lead to a sustained conflict and regional instability that would be unlikely to prevent the eventual acquisition of nuclear weapons by Iran and might even encourage it,” said the report.

The report also suggests that Israeli military units have also been involved in a range of operations in Iraq, especially in Iraqi Kurdistan where, among other activities, they have been training commando units. It also mentions close military connections with Azerbaijan in the north of Iran.

“In the event of a conflict with Iran, it is possible that Israel would be able to deploy military facilities in both countries, especially Azerbaijan. These might include ISTAR capabilities, Special Forces and search and rescue aircraft.”

On July 4, the Secretary-General of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, denied reports of the media about the possibility of using Kurdistan by Israel or the United States to strike Iran in a press conference with the Kurdish president Massoud Barzani in the Egyptian capital of Cairo.

"Iraq is committed to the Arab position and the Arab League against Israel," said Moussa adding that "the claim of the possibility of using Kurdistan to launch an attack on Iran by Tel Aviv or Washington was not correct.”

For his part Kurdistan President Barzani denied having any political ties with Israel in answering a question already asked so many times by Arab journalists whether the Kurds had relations with Israel.

In 2006 BBC said that Israeli forces were Kurdish Peshmarga forces, a report rejected outright by the Kurdish authorities.

Published in Rudaw

PKK Leader Doesn’t Want a Kurdish State

2010-07-25T11:56:00.000-07:00

BBC journalist Gatehouse mistranslated the words of the senior PKK leader Murat Karayilan. Karayilan didn’t say he wanted a Kurdish independent state, but confederalism if Turkey refuses to listen to PKK’s demands. So, the PKK cannot be considered separatists yet.

The journalist translated the interview from a recorded message. While the PKK-leader used the Kurdish word ‘Serbixwe’, which means independent in Kurdish , the journalist understood it as ‘Serxwebun’, which means independence in Kurdish.

That’s why BBC quoted Murat Karayilan as saying: "If the Turkish state does not accept this solution, then we will declare independence." The BBC have clarified the translation of this sentence and corrected it to: "If the Turkish state does not accept this solution, then we will declare democratic confederalism independently."

The mistake was seen by Kurdish readers, who read the article in Kurdish and told the British journalist of the mistake. The British journalist apologized and corrected the interview.

The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) was founded in 1978 and fought for an independent Kurdish state until 1998. From 1998 to 2005 the PKK recognized the Turkish borders and was supporting more cultural rights within Turkey. In March 2005 the PKK leader called for democratic confederalism. The PKK now fights for a border free confederation between the Kurdish regions of Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran .

Alleged PKK-head arrested on vacation in Italy

2010-07-22T02:21:00.000-07:00

(Photo: librenews.eu)

Venetia - The chairman of KON-KURD (Confederation of Kurdish Associations in Europe) Nizamettin Toğuç (58) was arrested on Tuesday in Venetia in Italy.

He was placed by Turkey on Interpol’s most wanted list for being member of a terrorist organization. The arrest was made after an investigation of two years into an alleged PKK training camp in the province of Pisa. 11 people were taken into custody in this operation.

The chairman has a Dutch nationality and was taken to the police office together with his wife. The Kurdish organization FEDKOM said the KON-KURD leader was on vacation in Italy. Nizamettin Toğuç is accused of being one the leading members of PKK in Europe. According to Jamestown Nizamettin Toğuç has one of the PKK decision-making roles at the group level in the post-Öcalan era.

Kurdish organizations blame the United States of America for increased pressure on European countries to listen to Turkey's demands and Turkey for filing interpol requests. It's likely pro-PKK organizations are planning protests in Europe. Last year two alleged PKK-officials were also arrested because of interpol arrest warrants in Spain.

More on from Turkish sources: Hurriyet.

Europol: No PKK attacks in Europe

2010-05-02T07:36:00.000-07:00

Rudaw - According to Europol, the PKK did not carry out any attacks in EU member states in 2009. The EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report for 2010 suggests the PKK still depends on Europe for money and support.

Europol is the European Police office that aims to improve cooperation between the police of EU member states. It doesn’t carry out arrests. Europol describes the PKK as a ‘ethno-nationalist and separatist terrorist group’.

Europol warns that although ‘there were no major incidents, there is evidence that the PKK/KONGRA-GEL continues to have a significant potential for violence, which may be deployed if needed.’ Instead of attacks, Komalen Ciwan, the youth organization of the PKK/KONGRA-GEL, is active in protests in the EU, the Europol report notes.

Europol also claims that the PKK/KONGRA-GEL is collecting money and support from Kurds in Europe and even argues that the PKK uses activities like extortion, human trafficking, drugs, arms smuggling and money laundering to raise money for the PKK rebels in the mountains of Northern Iraq (Iraqi Kurdistan).

The U.S. Treasury in October named Karayilan and two other PKK members "kingpins" in drug trafficking. Karayilan in an interview with Reuters denied the charge and said he was willing to open PKK rebel camps to investigators. He claims funding mainly comes from voluntary contributions from Kurds in Europe and from "customs duties" the PKK charges smugglers trading in fuel and household items between Turkey and Iran, he said.

Also PKK-leader Zubeyir Aydar, who was listed as a narcotics dealer by the U.S. treasury, claims that the PKK is against the use of drugs.

© Rudaw

US intelligence centre profiles Turkey’s Ergenekon movement

2010-05-02T07:34:00.000-07:00

The Director of National Intelligence’s Open Source Center (OSC) profiled the Ergenekon movement, a clandestine organization that was allegedly planning to overthrow the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government in a leaked unclassified report “Turkey – Guide to Ergenekon” released on March 19, 2010.

The leaked report notes that Ergenekon is the name of an illegal neonationalist organization, linked to the “so-called 'Deep State,' alleged to be a vast, underground network of secular Turks plotting criminal acts to destabilize the government."

"Ergenekon's leader, also referred to as 'Number One,' has not yet been identified," the OSC remarked, referring to the judicial investigations into the organization. The OSC does not make its products freely available to the public even when they are unclassified and not copyrighted, but a copy of the report was obtained by Secrecy News and released on the website of Federation of American Scientists (FAS).

According to Emrullah Uslu, an analyst of the Washington-based Jamestown Foundation, the Turkish society is divided in two camps about the Ergenekon case. While on one hand, liberal, moderate Islamists argue that Ergenekon is a criminal network that carried out most of the unsolved political murders in recent Turkish history. On the other hand, Kemalists and neonationalists tend to downplay the importance of the Ergenekon network. The British-analyst Gareth Jenkins described the court case as a ‘witch-hunt’

The OSC report notes that the information of the report is based exclusively on the content and behavior of selected media and has not been coordinated with other US Government components. The Open Source Centre is created and lead by the CIA to collect intelligence based on open sources, including the internet, media, television and other sources.

Counterterrorist units in Iraq

2010-04-28T06:42:00.001-07:00

After the U.S. invaded Iraq, it established or supported many counterinsurgency groups. The loyalty and background is often unclear. Examples are the Kurdish Counterterrorist Unit (CTU) headed by Lahur Talabani (see my interview here, which was established with the support of the American army after 2003. But they are not part of the discussion of DDR-programs (Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration of armed non-state actors). Other examples are the “Scorpions“, the “Wolf Brigade“, the “Muthana Brigade“, the “Second Defenders of Baghdad Brigade“, the “Iraq Freedom Guard“ and the “Freedom Fighters“. The U.S. recognized in the beginning the need to disband the “Freedom Fighters”. Counterinsurgency expert Thomas X. Hammes says these units are a marriage of convenience and ultimately may be absorbed into the army or disbanded (CFR.org 2005). The U.S. was forced to create it's own militias and counterinsurgency groups, due to the fact it didn't have enough troops to maintain stability in Iraq.

Interview with Hawler newspaper about Iraq elections

2010-04-23T16:33:00.001-07:00

This is an interview I did with the Hawler newspaper based in Kurdistan. The newspaper is connected to the Kurdistan Democratic Party and is spread for free in Kurdistan (around 25,000 copies).

What’s the place of the Kurdish question in international politics concerning Iraq and the Middle-East?

The Kurds matter, because they can potentially destabilize Middle-Eastern countries like Iran, Turkey, Iraq and to a lesser extent Syria. Turkey is an important partner of the west and cannot be stable without solving the Kurdish issue and disarming the PKK. Therefore the European Union wants Turkey to solve the Kurdish issue to democratize Turkey. Also the current ruling Islamic AKP-government tried to make things easier by making some small concession to the Kurds, but this isn’t enough yet to solve the Kurdish issue.

The Kurds in Iran can also play a major role if America decides to invade Iran, which will probably not happen any time soon. The Kurds in Iraq play an important role in the stability of Iraq. America need the Kurds to sell Kurdistan as a success story and to participate in Iraqi politics. The Kurds are the most pro-American group in Iraq. Any major problems between Arabs and Kurds could slow down the withdrawal of American troops and therefore the Americans have an interest to keep Kurds quiet. The major oil resources in Kurdish regions also matter in international politics, since most economies are dependent on oil in the West and the rest of the world. If Kurdistan didn’t have the ‘curse of oil’ it would be less important.

How do you see the situation of Kurds of Iraq and Turkey?

If you compare them, the Kurds in Iraq are better off than the Kurds in Turkey. Although the Kurds from Turkey have seats in the Turkish parliament and control local municipalities, the Kurds in Iraq control a part of their own resources (oil), have their own regional government and a recognized autonomous region as part of Iraq. Even the Iraqi president and the Iraqi Foreign Minister were Kurds, although they couldn’t do much for Kurdistan, as a representative of the whole of Iraq.

Although the PKK’s organizations are more active and effective than the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in lobbying in European countries and Brussels, the problem for Kurds from Turkey is that the PKK is considered a terrorist organization internationally, so they have more limitations. In general only small socialist parties support demands of the Kurds from Turkey. European governments also don’t want to hurt their own economic interest by supporting the Kurds in Turkey, although they ask Turkey to give the Kurds more culture rights, while condemning the PKK. Therefore European representatives would rather meet leaders of the Kurdistan region than Kurdish leaders from Turkey. Its also not a problem for any European political party to have relations with Iraqi Kurds.

Does the USA and EU have a policy towards the Kurds as a nation?

The USA and the European Union see Kurds mostly as citizens of the states where they live in. Apart from the Kurdistan region in Iraq, which is a separate region. Member states of the European Union do not have a unified position on the Kurdish issue. This is because the formation of an united European identity and policy is still developing, while United States of America has one foreign policy.

Most European countries have different interests and policies towards the Kurdistan region. Some have opened full consulates general, but some others are just honorary, because they don’t want to anger Baghdad in the future. I see that with my own country the Netherlands, which is scared to recognize the Kurdistan Region. You can also see that with European oil companies, most of them don’t want to be involved in Kurdish oil business, because they are afraid of angering the Iraqi government. In general you see that European countries follow their economical and national interests in Kurdistan. They have recognized ‘Northern Iraq’ as a safe region, but with the main reason to more easily deport back Kurdish asylum seekers. They opened consulates, so that they can do business.

The Americans have much more contacts with the Iraqi Kurds than the Europeans. The Americans know the Kurds are pro-American, but they don’t want to lose Turkey as an important ally and don’t want to anger the Arabs in Iraq. So they will not support Kurdish independence or the Kurdistan region to become more powerful than it already is by carrying out article 140 and let the Kurds expand their region with Kirkuk and parts of Mosul and Diyala. You can also see this thinking in the reports of the International Crisis Group and the Iraqi Study Group, they want the Kurds to make concessions towards Iraq. I think there is a possibility that the Americans indirectly backed the Iraqiyya list of Allawi, which list was also supported by Turkey, Syria and Saudi Arabia. Especially after so-called Sunni Baathist candidates like Mutlaq were banned, with alleged Iranian support and when the Shia political parties didn’t protest against the Iranian take-over of the Fakka oil field. The US Top commander Odierno even accused the Justice and Accountability Commission of ties with Iran intelligence and Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

How do you see the work of the Kurdistan Regional Government from 2003 until now?

The Kurds successfully managed to put article 140 into the Iraqi constitution, but they have been too nice to Americans, concerning the disputed regions like Kirkuk, Diyala and Mosul and tried to solve problems with dialogue. They haven’t put much pressure on the Americans and often gave in to American demands. Often the Americans made concessions to the Shia and Sunnis, but they didn’t gave much concessions to the Kurds. The Kurds treated the Americans as their bigger brother, but they should realize the Americans have their own interests.

Still, the Kurds did a good job of securing the recognition of the Kurdistan region in the constitution, but failed to solve article 140, the status of Peshmerga and oil issues. The Kurdish MP Mahmud Osman said this is because they don’t have a good mechanism of dealing with Baghdad and pressuring Baghdad to carry out its promises. They make verbal agreements, but not anything on paper. The Kurdish leadership have some irregular meetings and information exchanges with the Iraqi leadership, but without results. Also Kurdish MPs in Baghdad didn’t manage to pressuring Iraq to carry out the Iraqi constitution.

The Kurds should also watch out from being too dependent on oil. Kurdistan is still too much dependent on both oil and imports from neighbouring countries. Iraqi Kurdistan should make efforts to build a real economy with their own products, but this is going to take time. The Kurds should realize that in 10 or 20 years, oil will run out. Yemen is already discovering what it is to be dependent on oil only and is desperately begging for foreign money.

The Kurds especially did a good job on preventing terrorist attacks and maintaining security in the Kurdistan region. They did this by controlling the surrounding disputed regions and using them as a buffer zone against terrorism. Although the security forces aren’t unified yet and divided the regions between themselves, they prevented major terrorist attacks. The Kurdistan region is very close to dangerous regions like Mosul and has a lot of hostile neighbours and enemies, maybe similar to the situation Israel is in. I got the idea that the Kurdish security forces operate so well from meeting several Kurdish security officials, like the Kurdish intelligence chief Masrour Barzani and seeing the security situation myself. Without the work of the Kurdish security agencies, you would see a lot of attacks in Erbil, Suleymaniyah and even in Duhok. While the Kurds in Erbil and Suleymaniyah go shopping, the Kurdish security agencies are risking their lives every day and their job is much more riskier than most security jobs in other parts of the world.

How do you see the Iraqi parliament election outcome and struggle between Baghdad and Erbil especially after election?

It’s very difficult to predict the future. The Kurdish opposition made a mistake of running on a different list in Baghdad and should have stick to the election in Kurdistan. They will get much more seats in Kurdistan on domestic issues, than challenging the ruling Kurdish parties in Baghdad, while weakening the Kurdish position in Baghdad at the same time. But I can understand they don’t want their image of opposition to be blurred, by joining the KDP and PUK in an alliance. But they could have refrained from participating in the Iraqi elections, since the Kurds lose some seats now.

I expect that with the pressure of Iran, another government dominated by Shia and Kurds will likely be formed. The presence of Jalal Talabani in Iran already shows that. I don’t see how the Iraqiiya list of Allawi could either ally with the Kurdistan Alliance or the list of Sadr, both don’t have much in common with the neo-Baathists dominating a part of the Iraqqiya list.

I don’t know if in a new government Sunnis will be included. They should be included, because they got a lot of seats. Otherwise the Sunnis might create troubles again and attacks. I think the Kurds will have a hard time selling article 140 to the list of Allawi, but maybe this time Maliki or the Shia will be more conciliatory. But the ‘victory’ of the Arabs and Turkmen with the support from Turkey and Saudi Arabia against the Kurds in Kirkuk, will probable used by the Iraqi Arabs and international analysts, to weaken Kurdish claims on Kirkuk. The Kurds failed to see that they should be united on national Kurdish issues like Kirkuk, by participating with one list. Now to lost several seats because of the decision of the Kurdish opposition.

What are your expectations and advice for Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government, especially towards Kirkuk and the participation in the Iraqi government?

The Kurds this time should pressure their future coalition partners to give promises on paper and in practice, not verbal promises. Both Allawi and Maliki promised to carry out article 140, but didn’t do nothing. The Kurdish MPS should also work more and become more active in the Iraqi parliament to pressure them to carry out Kurdish demands, although this might be more difficult, when you are part of the Iraqi government. But if the Kurdish opposition will not be part of the government, they could do this instead, making the Kurdish representation more strong in Baghdad. The Kurdish leadership should also think of new ways of pressuring the Iraqi leadership of carrying out Kurdish demands. For instance of empowering a representative in Baghdad to follow the Iraqi parties more closely and being in contact with them regularly, instead of irregular visit by the Kurdish leadership to the capital of Baghdad.

Lack of focus in CIA

2010-04-06T16:54:00.000-07:00

Photo credits: ESRI/AP

This article shows that the CIA is having problems with amateur officers in the field and amateurism. This came out of the open after a suicide bombing that killed seven CIA officers in Khost, Afghanistan in January 2010. The CIA is too much focused on analysts and not on human agents in the field (called HUMINT). Often the American's intelligence apparatus is criticized for focusing too much on gadgets, but not on agents in the field. Robert Baer suggests the CIA should start with getting amateurs out of the field and impose professional standards of training and experience. "If it doesn't, we're going to see a lot more Khosts," the former CIA-agent says.

Terrorists try to create tensions in Iraq

2010-04-03T20:53:00.001-07:00

Men in Iraqi Army uniforms brutally killed 24 people in Sunni Area last Saturday. They clearly planned to create political tensions in Iraq. It reminds me of the bombings in Kirkuk at the Abdullah restaurant and the attacks in Mosul against ethnic minorities, aimed to trigger ethnic tensions between Kurds and Arabs. Because of the competition between Allawi and Maliki to form the next government, these attacks were carried out to increase tensions between the Sunnis supporting Allawi and Shia supporting Maliki. Because of the indecisive results in the Iraq elections (no list could get a real majority), there is an increase in tensions.

Barzani wants alliance with non-Baathists

2010-04-03T02:50:00.000-07:00

The Kurdish leader, Masoud Barazani, declared his intention to go to Baghdad to negotiate with all factions to form a new government insisting that the Kurds will form an alliance with those who shared with them the struggle against the Saddam regime.[5]A somewhat vague statement because all of the contestants struggled against Saddam Hussein. In reality, the Kurds will support anyone who agrees to hold a referendum regarding the future of Kirkuk.

Source: Memri

The Kurdish president is probable referring to Saleh al-Mutlak (who was banned) and the Al-Hadba list in Mosul, which are part of the Iraqiya list. The Kurds do not have a problem with Allawi, but see Al-Hadba as a neobaathist list.

Riad al Khouri: No banks, no crisis in Kurdistan

2010-04-02T14:06:00.000-07:00

By Wladimir van Wilgenburg

Rudaw - The Middle East Institute in Washington D.C. hosted Riad al Khouri on March 25 for a discussion about Middle East economies. He says Kurdistan is one of the exceptions of avoiding the ‘Dubai-type meltdown’ and is prospering despite the regional downturn.

Riad al Khouri is currently dean of the Business School at the Lebanese French University in Erbil, Kurdistan, and senior economist in the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He has undertaken consulting or training assignments for OPEC fund, UNDP, USAID, the World Bank, the WTO and the European Commission, among many other public sector organizations.

Kurdistan untouched by financial crisis

According to al Khouri, there are three exceptions to the economic downturn in the Middle-east: Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, and Iraqi Kurdistan. Still there are threats looming for all of them. “Erbil today has been practically untouched by the financial crisis, because they don’t have a banking sector,” al Khouri argued.

He says there are many opportunities in Kurdistan, because everything has to be built. He says the Kurds want 5-star hotels and big cars and they have the oil and gas money to pay for it. Next to this, Kurdistan has a lot of potential in the agriculture sector and enormous amounts of water. But the basic infrastructure is missing. “Erbil is a good place because of its people , not infrastructure.”

But Italian restaurants, pubs and roads can be build. “This is starting bottom-up, to build the economy. On the same way this coast line was developed by English settlers hundreds of years ago. That’s why Kurdistan is doing very well over the next year or so,” the economic expert predicts. He also praises Kurdistan for it’s stability. “Kurdistan is as safe as the Connecticut area, probable even safer concerning crime and other issues.”

Disputed areas threaten stability

But he says the future of the disputed cities like Mosul and Kirkuk with lots of oil, can cause instability. “I am a bit more worried now, but not losing any sleep, because of the results of the Iraqi elections which are indecisive and unclear.” He says that decisive results would mean more peace in Kurdistan, but he argues there is now room for instability in Kurdistan. “But I hope I’m wrong.”

So much oil, you drown in it

As an example of the oil-richness, he mentioned a story of a friend of him from Kirkuk. “His parents were building a house, got down 2 or 3 yards and found oil.” He even says one of their workers drowned in oil. “There is so much oil that you drown in it. This leads to instability.”

The economist doesn’t want to make any predictions on the future of the oil law. “I’m not an expert. I would like to know the result of the Iraqi elections and who is going to be the next minister of oil.”

On 13 April he will speak at the British Institute in Amman, Jordan, about the Foreign investment and the economic development of Kurdistan: the regional dimension. The Middle East Institute earlier hosted the U.S. KRG representative Qubad Talabani and a conference about the Kurds of Iran.

More:Youtube channel Middle East institute

Rethinking Daudelin’s rethinking of humanitarian intervention

2010-03-05T07:13:00.000-08:00

It is now 15 years since the Rwandan genocide, 30 years since the end of the mass killing in Cambodia and 10 years since the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. On Monday 18 May 2009 there was a conference about the lessons of the international community to prevent such human disasters to take place in Amsterdam. Speakers were the founder of the concept ‘Responsibility to Protect’ (R2P), ex-ICG director Gareth Evans, Doctors Without Borders director James Orbrinski, former UN Mission Sudan Commander Jasbir Lidder and former UN representative in Sudan, Jan Pronk..

The international community said they would prevent humanitarian crises after the holocaust, Rwanda, Cambodia, Kosovo, Srebrenica, and we are still talking about it in Darfur and last week’s tragedy in Sri Lanka, concluded Evans. Gareth Evans argued that there is a need to create a consensus for a proper response. “They shouldn’t say this [crises] is none of our business as a sovereign state. It’s everybody’s business. We have to focus on policies that work. We are getting close now.”

Humanitarian intervention can be defined as a ‘threat or use of force by a state, group of states, or international organization primarily for the purpose of protecting the nationals of the target state from widespread deprivations of internationally recognized human rights.’ (Murphy 1996: 11-12). But it doesn’t only include military means, but also peaceful means to stop conflict (diplomacy, humanitarian means, etc).

According to the UN Charter VII, conflict prevention is a primary responsibility of UN member states and preventive action must be initiated at the earliest possible stage of a conflict. But in reality there have been disparate and inchoate efforts, a lack of coherence and focus to stop genocides from happening. When the genocide took place in Rwanda on 21 April, the UN Security Council reduced the number of UN soldiers from 2,548 to 270 men (Daudelin 2004:1).

On 7 September 2000 the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICISS) (Daudelin 2004: 1) also tried to form an answer to this problem and concluded that the international community has a central ‘responsibility to protect (r2p)’. Evans says this was abused by Russia and America for their interventions in Georgia in Iraq.

The international community has, on occasion, responded to some of the humanitarian crises for a variety of humanitarian reasons or national interests. States have acted both unilaterally (Iraq, Kosovo, Georgia) and within the United Nations system to address these crises and such action has included the provision of humanitarian assistance, peacekeeping, and the use of force to provide such assistance or to prevent or stop gross and widespread violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.

Daudelin notes though that interventions that supposed to be decisive and short, turned into hurried retreats (Somalia) or continued costly presences without clear mandates. Most western countries aren’t keen on intervention and to sustain serious interventionists endeavour (Daudelin 2004: 5). Therefore Daudelin tried to formulate an alternative to the R2P concept and the UN charter. I will discuss the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the third party intervention theory of Daudelin in this article.

The current thinking on human intervention can be summarized by three points:
(1) They need large investments in resources and personnel for extensive periods of time.
(2) There is a dominant role of western nations
(3) Intervention can best be implemented by neutral parties

But there are certain problems:
(1) The preparedness and credibility of major western nations is low to carry out these interventions. The west is not keen on intervention and the reliance on the west further damages ‘prospects for a broad humanitarian regime’. “Democratic states that are doing the intervening will not look favourably on costly military adventures” (Hampson & Mendeloff 2007: 697) nor they are willing to risk the lives of their soldiers. In the Netherlands the deaths of only a dozen soldiers already resulted in protest against Dutch participation in the NATO operations in Afghanistan.
(2) There is a lack of resources for UN missions and the UN military is ill-equipped and unlikely to obtain support to plan enforcement operations (Jentleson 2007: 292) . For instance UN General Lidder says that in Sudan the UN military doesn’t have enough helicopters to operate nor enough military equipment. In Kosovo the UN went bankrupt (Daudelin 2004: 5)
(3) The general idea is that intervention can be best implemented by neutral parties, but neutral disinterested parties ‘seem to be unable to find the resolve and support needed to sustain costly long-term humanitarian interventions (Daudelin 2004: 7).

Thus as a result the legitimacy of humanitarian intervention has never been ‘so profoundly challenged’ says Daudelin. The current concepts just doesn’t work, he concludes. “Yet nothing suggests that calls for ‘political will’ and ‘responsibility to protect’ would contribute in any significant manner to the establishment of a fair humanitarian intervention regime’ (Daudelin 2004: 9).

Therefore Daudelin suggests a new ‘realistic’ thinking which has certain positive points:

(1) By increasing the role of the South above the notion of being the ‘theatre of action’, towards a ‘southern-flavoured interventionist regime’ (Daudelin 2004: 10). This through pragmatic decision-making mechanisms other than the formal Security Council to involve key South players in issues effecting their region. As a result the anticolonialist/anti-imperialist argument would lose much of its force and intervention would get more credibility. The UN Security Council often blocks military interventions (Jentleson 2007: 281) see for instance Kosovo, Rwanda and Sudan due to vetoes by UN members that fear for their own interests. For instance Russia and China are scared that it will effect their own policies towards Taiwan/Tibet and Chechnya. According to Jan Pronk the UN was so ineffectual that the people on the ground were just laughing (Jentleson 2007: 287).

(2) Another problem is that the Southern players do not have enough money to play a role, and therefore interventions are dependent on the US and EU which further hurts the credibility of the intervention. Daudelin therefore suggests to delink interventions from western funding by mustering local resources such as diamonds, emeralds and oil that were used to bring war, but can now be used to bring peace. This would solve the lack of financial resources of interventionist forces and result in better equipped forces. Southern players would likely be more willing to put their soldiers at risk then western democracies.

Daudelin says that current interventions are already living off the land in Kosovo and East Timor. He proposes ‘trust funds’ for oil revenues and diamonds, just as the ‘oil for food’ the UN managed in Iraq, but they should be monitored by international participation to avoid the intervention to be subordinated to the interests of the Southern Players.

(3) Daudelin thus emphasises the ‘critical importance of national interests’ over disinterested western players (Daudelin 2004: 15). Only interests players are willing to risk their lives. Daudelin even argues that national interests should be allowed, if not encouraged, as they are needed for intervention to happen. As an example he gives the rapid response of France in Rwanda who was ready to invest and risk a lot. The French felt that the intervention was justified in terms of national interests.

Daudelin also gives the example of interventions of ‘the South in the South”: Syria in Lebanon, Cuba in Angola and Ethiopia, Tanzania in Uganda, Australia in East Timor, Nigeria and ECOMOG in Liberia and Sierra Leone, etc. Jentleson agrees with this and says that in many UN peacekeeping operations ‘impartiality’ was a delusion and only worked well in situations where the parties already agreed to peace. The dream of the UN Secretary General Annan to establish a UN Rapid Reaction Force is a questionable idea, since it would never be adequately financed nor be allowed by participating countries to put their soldiers at risk.

While Canada promotes the R2P concept, Canada itself lacks the capability to participate in these missions and therefore one should consider if Canada is in a position to promote such criteria (Simons 2001).

Daudelin agrees there are also certain disadvantages and dangers to his ideas, but notes that pragmatic thinking is required beyond noble-sounding internationalism. Daudelin wants to break the exclusive grip the west has over humanitarian interventions and points out that interventionist regimes need mixed motives. “We need to go beyond our fixation with neutrality, disinterested funding and cosmopolitan outlook to consider less righteous and more pragmatic stances.” This is the only way to set up a sustainable regime of intervention.

There are certain disadvantages to the ideas of Daudelin. Although Daudelin’s ideas can be credited for his pragmatic solutions and analysis of failed international operations to prevent humanitarian disasters, there are very big dangers.

(1) While Daudelin argues for increasing the role of the south, this has some implications. Jentleson (2007: 289) notes that while there are many benefits of regional leadership, it can have a ‘perverse dynamic’ and result in a ‘conspiracy of absolution’ in which regional forces/southern forces like the African union, absolve the responsibility of reluctant western countries to consider to sent their own forces. The regional forces are also often poorly trained and equipped to handle this kind of peacekeeping operations and would probable still need western training and support. Although western countries are reluctant to sent their own soldiers, their own armies are often better trained then regional forces.

Bypassing the United Nations for interventions to stop human right violations can also create dangerous precedents. The ICISS report already noted that military interventions outside UN auspices do not find wide favor, but did happen. There are different perceptions of ‘human rights’ (sovereignty of the state versus human rights) and an increasing role of Southern Forces could create more precedents for western and non-western powers to act on their own and use human rights for their own interests to pursue their national interests. For instance Russia used the R2P concept to intervene in it’s neighbor Georgia to stop the human rights violations by Georgia against it’s minorities (Evans 2008). While it’s primary goal was to punish the West for it’s NATO membership promise for Georgia. America also used human rights to invade Iraq and later Afghanistan.

Bypassing the UN to give a bigger role to Southern forces, could also result in more room for southern forces to do what they want, just as the bigger powers like China, Russia and America. Syria’s invasion of Lebanon wasn’t based on human right motives, but on their own national interests.

(2) Although Daudelin argues for mustering local sources this can also create serious problems. One of his examples is the UN oil for food program. According to the Council on Foreign Relations (McMahon 2006) this ‘largest humanitarian program in UN history was also victimized by the organization's worst corruption scandal.’ This shows that mustering local sources can also result in corruption and management problems. Although trust funds could be created for oil revenues and diamonds, it would need very strong monitoring by the international community to avoid being subordinated to interests of Southern players. It’s also unlikely Southern players could handle these resources and this would again result in the necessity of a bigger involvement of western powers. The UN mission in Iraq showed that even the UN itself could not stop corruption and Saddam earning more then 10 billion dollars.

The use of resources to ‘create peace’ could also result in a renewed idea of ‘colonization’. When asked about his ideas on this issue, Jan Pronk quickly denounced it and said the UN won’t colonize the third world again. Using the oil, diamonds and other resources could badly hurt the legitimacy of prolonged peace operations, also when carried out by southern forces, and viewed as illegitimate. The unilateral action of the US in Iraq which is often viewed as a war for oil, instead of a war for peace, proves a good example. If peace forces will use key resources it could further legitimate opposition against the intervening forces.

(3) Daudelin especially emphasises the role of national interests. The problem is that national interests doesn’t mean that the Southern countries, the 'developing' and 'less developed' countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America will have the same ‘universalistic idea of human rights’. Which is often a very western cosmopolitan vision. For instance the Southern regional African Union reaffirmed the support for Sudan’s sovereignty, ‘rejecting any foreign intervention by any country, whatsoever’ (Jentleson 2007: 287). Sudan almost assumed the AU presidency in 2006, this was blocked, but the AU resolution leaned more to the traditional intervention-restrictive conception of sovereignty, instead of the responsibility to protect.

Also western countries that have national interests in their former colonies like Belgium and France do not necessarily have the goal to protect civilians. Orbrinski, whose served as doctor in Rwanda during the genocide, expressed his anger towards the French policies in Rwanda, who were more interested in keeping their former allies intact (the Hutu powers parties that committed the genocide against Hutu moderates and Tutsis) then preventing genocide. The genocidaires in Rwanda were armed by France and when the genocidaires were losing the war, France stepped in. Another example Daudelin gives was the Gulf War, where Saddam was driven out of Kuwait, but in the meanwhile killed thousands of Kurds and Shia in Iraq after a revolt, while the US stood by and watched them die.

Although Daudelin says that countries who have suffered under colonialism and outside involvement, also have a responsibility to prevent abuses and mass atrocities, it’s not likely that they will do this. Examples of Daudelin’s potential key players are Brazil, Mexico, Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt, Turkey, China, India, Pakistan and Indonesia. Most of these countries are involved in (mass) human rights violations and some also have their own problems with ethnic minorities. They might not contribute to a positive rule, because they think the state has the sovereignty to ‘commit human right violations’ to protect the state.

During the Suez crises of 1956 France and the United Kingdom also sent ‘peace forces’ to stop the fighting between Israeli forces and Egypt, but later it was revealed that the UK, France and Israel worked together to keep control the Suez canal. Although this is fifty years ago, it gives an example of the dangers of involving national interests in peacekeeping operations.

The effort of Daudelin to try to find a workable solution for a human international order is laudable, but increasing the role of the South, mustering local resources, and using national interests to stop human rights violations still have major loopholes and dangers, since the management of local resources could be troublesome and further delegitimize the humanitarian operation. Daudelin should also come up with more ideas how to prevent national interests from taking over main goal of prevent human rights violations. Especially considering the recent ‘peace operations’ of Russia in Georgia and the behaviour of French forces in Rwanda. If the ‘peacekeeping countries’ commit human rights themselves and tightly restrict interventions in the name of sovereignty to ’being free to be repressive and murderous within their own borders’ (Jentleson 2007: 292), it’s unlikely they would be more committed then the ‘western’ countries to stop mass atrocities.

Notes:

Personal notes, Conflict Conference Amsterdam 18 May 2009. See: http://www.conflictconference.com/
Daudelin, J. (2004) ‘Rethinking Humanitarian Intervention’. In: Keating, T., & Knight, W.A. (eds.) Building Sustainable Peace. 1-22. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press.
Evans, G. (2008), “Russia and the 'Responsibility to Protect'”, The Los Angeles Times, URL:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/europe/la-oe-evans31-2008aug31,0,7555205.story (Accessed on 22 May 2009).

Jentleson, B. W. (2007), Yet Again: Humanitarian Intervention and the Challenges of Never Again, in: “Leashing the Dog of War”, pp.277-299. Washington: United States Institute of Peace Press (2007) pp. 280.
Hampson, F. O & Mendeloff (2007), D. “Intervention and the Nation-Building Debate”, in: “Leashing the Dog of War”, pp. 679-701. Washington: United States Institute of Peace Press.
Hampson, F.O. (2001) ‘Parent, Midwife or Accidental Executioner? The role of Third Parties in Ending Violent Conflict’. In: C.A. Crocker, F.O. Hampson, & P. Aall, eds., Turbulent Peace: The Challenges of Managing International Conflict, pp. 387-406. Washington, D.C.: United States Institute of Peace Press.
International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty. [Online] Available at http://www.iciss.gc.ca.
McMahon, Robert (2006), “The Impact of the UN Oil-for-Food Scandal”, Council on Foreign Relations, URL: http://www.cfr.org/publication/10675/ (Accessed on 22 May 2009).

Murphy, Sean D. (1996), Humanitarian Intervention: The United Nations in an Evolving World Order, University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia.

United Nations, General Assembly Security Council (2001) ‘Prevention of armed conflict’, Report of the Secretary-General, Executive Summary. A/55/985-S/2001/574. 1-3. New York: UN.

Simons, Penelope C. (2001) "Humanitarian Intervention: A Review of Literature", Ploughshares Working Paper 01-2, URL: http://www.ploughshares.ca/libraries/WorkingPapers/wp012.html (Accessed on 22 May 2009).

CFR expert: Kirkuk will likely be added to Kurdistan

2010-02-20T03:36:00.000-08:00

By Wladimir van Wilgenburg

Washington - Iraq-expert and officer at the U.S. State Department Rachel Schneller thinks that the incorporation of Kirkuk in Kurdistan is likely, due to the fact that the Kurdish bloc is likely to become the ‘tie-breaker’ in the Iraqi parliament after the 7 March Iraq elections.
Rachel Schneller is a Foreign Service Officer at the U.S. State Department, currently an International Affairs Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, D.C. researching Iraq and its refugees and displaced persons. Her opinion doesn’t reflect the ideas of the US government nor State Department.

Despite that some Iraq experts think the Kurds are unlikely to become the kingmakers in the next Iraqi elections and that Kirkuk will get a separate status, due to external opposition of neighbouring countries and the opposition of the majority of Iraqi political groups against the Kurdish annexation of Kirkuk, Schneller disagrees.
Read more at Rudaw

Violence and fear in Kirkuk, my reports on the disputed city

2010-01-27T13:27:00.000-08:00
I visited Kirkuk three times and met with the Change list leader Mam Rostam, police chief Sarhad Qadeer and governor Rizgar Ali. I also spoke with some other Kirkukis. I also went to the location of a terrorist attack with the Kirkuk police, but there wasn't much to be seen. Qadeer is always busy, but very fond of camera's, I heard. NPR recently had a report on a Kurdish doctor joining the PUK in Kirkuk for the election campaign. The population seems to be very critical of the local parties, accusing them of corruption and working for their own pockets.

The New York Times said there is tension between the Iraqi army and Kurdish controlled police and intelligence services. But I noticed some Arab police officers were guarding a neighbourhood with high Kurdish officials of the PUK party of Jalal Talabani, the Iraqi president. Qadeer claims the police forces are multinational, although there are a lot of Kurdish flags in his room and I can imagine why he can trust his own kind more, since the huge amount of bomb attacks against the police. I did two articles about Kirkuk for two newspapers and wrote one column about it for the Kurdish newspaper Rudaw. According to Reuters Iraq polls could heighten tensions over Kirkuk, which was confirmed by Rizgar Ali and Qadeer in my visit.

"Kirkuk’s outer districts police chief, Gen. Sarhad Qadeer, has a tough job; every day his men are targeted by insurgents, and violence is expected to increase in the run-up to the parliamentary elections scheduled for March 7."

Read the full report on Today's Zaman here.

To get a picture of the work of the police in Kirkuk:

Police statistics:

From 1 November - 24 December

Bomb explosions: 17
Recovered bombs: 10
Police killed: 5
Police Injured: 28
National guard killed: 3
Civilians killed by terrorists: 9
Injured civilians: 29
Kidnapped: 3
Civilians by domestic violence: 6
Police arrest operations: 17
Seizure of heavy weapons: 15
Arrest of suspected terrorists: 109
Injured national guard: 2
Seizure weapons without license: 7
Sawha (Sunni militia): 2 killed
Finding base of rockets and heavy weapons: 8
Finding of peoples body: 4
Car bombs: 2
35 rockets
Finding base of rockets & Mortars: 48
2 car bombs: cleared from explosives
Arrest child kidnapping gangs: 1
Freeing kidnapped people: 2

More pics:

Photo's of the police

Cruising with the police in Kirkuk

On a police car

Btw, the US regional air base of Kirkuk can be followed on Facebook.

Round-world adventurer surprised by Kurdistan

2010-01-26T15:30:00.000-08:00

By Wladimir van Wilgenburg
Amsterdam – British filmmaker and world traveler Graham Hughes entered Iraqi Kurdistan on Tuesday. He is documenting his trip for Lonely Planet Television and National Geographic. The adventurer was surprised by Kurdistan. “This part of Iraq is lovely. Might stay for a couple of nights!”

Mr Hughes left his home in January on the 12-month charity mission, which is raising money for WaterAid. He hopes to raise £1 million on the 56,000-mile trip, which he is documenting on camera for Lonely Planet Television and National Geographic. Hughes hopes to be the first person in the world to set foot in all 194 countries of the planet. He is doing this without flying and driving, but he is allowed to used public transport.

On Tuesday Hughes entered Kurdistan via Turkey and visited the city of Erbil, drove by Kirkuk and entered Sulemaniyah. The filmmaker is planning to stay a couple of nights, enjoying the safety in Kurdistan. “The second most dangerous country in the world? Bah! Kurdistan it's about as threatening as Wales.” The adventurer was also surprised by the infrastructure in Kurdistan. “Motorways! Nice Buildings! Electricity! And this is a war-torn country? Africa is even more messed up than I thought,” tweeted Hughes.

Currently Garham Hughes is the official Guinness World Records holder for visiting the most countries in one year without flying. He is paying all the travel by himself. He can be followed on his Twitter here (Photo: theodysseyexpedition.com).

© Rudaw

DTP closure case and Sivan Perwer

2009-12-17T10:50:00.000-08:00

I wrote two articles for Rudaw.net. One is an short interview with EU rapporteur Ria Oomen-Ruijten and the other a report on a speech held by the Kurdish nationalist singer Siwan Perwer, who urged Kurds to protect their identity. I recently finished a Dutch article on the upcoming Iraqi elections and the election law crisis and I will write another article on the outcome of the Kurdish elections of last summer.

More

Brussels - The pro-Kurdish party DTP was banned by the Turkish constitutional court on Friday. The court was drawing a parallel to the case of Basque separatist party Batasuna in Spain. But European Parliament’s rapporteur told Rudaw that there is a major difference between Turkey and Spain.
read more.

The Hague - The Kurdish nationalist singer Sivan Perwer made it clear on a cultural Kurdish debate evening on 15 December, that Kurds should protect their own culture.
Read More

PKK claims responsibility for attack in Turkey

2009-12-10T09:17:00.000-08:00

The military command of the PKK, the HPG, claimed responsibility for the attack in Tokat on 7 December, which killed 7 Turkish soldiers. “The action in Tokat is a retaliation action, which has carried out by one of our units on its own initiative.” Earlier before it was still unclear who was behind the attack.

The Turkish daily Sabah reported that the intelligence unit of Tokat Governor's Office said at the end of October that a 20-people PKK group in the region headed towards Tunceli province, and that some of the members of the group were missing. This indicated that this group might launched the attack Resadiye/Tokat.

Emre Uslu wrote more about the attack
here. Suggesting it could also be related to geopolitics.

English woman wants to stop ethnic-cleansing of Syrian Kurds

2009-11-30T16:20:00.000-08:00

Sheila Mosley was born in Zimbabwe, but her parents are from Yorkshire in the UK. Together with the Syrian Kurd Khalaf Dahowd, she has chosen to promote the situation of Kurds from Syria as co-chair of the International Support Kurds in Syria Association.

English woman wants to stop ethnic-cleansing of Syrian Kurds

More on Syria here.

Kawa Rashid, spokesman of the Syrian Kurdish Unity party in Brussels reacted to a recent Today’s Zaman report suggesting more rights for Syria’s Kurds. “The Syrian regime is not be trusted, because we see other things happening in Syria”

Kurdish candidates for Iraqi elections

2009-11-24T10:22:00.000-08:00
Despite the delayed Iraqi elections, Rudaw published the names of the candidates.

Husyar Zebari for Mosul
Pshtiwan Sadiq for Hawler
Sarbast Lazgin for Duhok
Muhammad Amin for Baghdad
Karwan Qadir for Sulaimani
Hashm Abdullah for Kirkuk
Khasro Goran for Mosul

29 KDP candidates: among them Hosyar Zebari, Sami Shorsh, Mullah Omer Chingiani and Jula Haji.
39 PUK candidates: Among them Dr. Foad Maasum, Dr. Najmaddin Karim, Jamal Abdul, Saady Ahmad Pira, Friad Rwandzi and Dr. Saman Fawzi.
28 candidates for the Change list.
24 candidates for the Islamic Union of Kurdistan
10 candidates for the Islamic Group Kurdistan (Komal) headed by Ali Bapir
10 candidates for Kurdish minority groups

(C) Rudaw

Iraq expert concerned about Galbraith’s role in Iraq

2009-11-23T14:17:00.000-08:00
Reidar Visser is the editor of the Iraq website historiae.org, a member of the Gulf Research Unit at the University of Oslo and a research fellow at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs which is funded by the Norwegian Research Council and the Norwegian Ministry of Education. According to Iraq expert Reidar Visser, Galbraith's dual role in Iraq and Kurdistan appears to have broken no laws, but it does raise ethical questions.

Read more

Kurdish president asks for EU support

2009-11-10T05:36:00.001-08:00

By Wladimir van Wilgenburg

Brussels - The Kurdish president Massoud Barzani embarked on a diplomatic visit to Brussels on Tuesday. The president asked Europe for support and emphasized that the Regional Kurdistan Government (KRG) maintains good relations with the Turkish government.

Massoud Barzani was received by EU MPS Fiorello Provers and Struan Stevenson and Jim McEvoy from the EU Protocol department. The Kurdish president held a speech about the role of the Kurdistan region in Iraq and said he is proud on the role his people played in democracy and free elections, compared to the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein.

More

Update: France & PKK

2009-10-29T06:38:00.000-07:00
My 'analysis' was used in a new article on the PKK and France. Representatives of Kurdish organizations say the actions against Kurdish organizations is 'political' and related to Turkish involvement. They make a point, considering the Turkish talks with French officials on the PKK issue.

PARIS–Kurds in Paris are protesting that they are being harassed by police as authorities push to track down members of a Kurdish separatist terrorist organisation.

PKK commander Murat Karayilan told the think tank Jamestown, “France is giving Turkey a message: ‘Don’t be scared, I’m attacking the PKK in my own country and you can have your war against the PKK. We will be at your back and supporting you.’”

More

AKP attacked for Kurdish initiative

2009-10-28T16:19:00.000-07:00

Because of it's Kurdish initiative, anti-AKP groups are saying the AKP is working together with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The CHP-leader said the AKP is collaborating with Ocalan, as a way to score cheap points. There were several demonstrations against the AKP in Turkey. As a result the govt didn't let the last PKK group turn back to Turkey out of fear of losing votes. Also the PKK 'peace' group declared that the AKP should show a stronger will and ignore the ultranationalist policies of the MHP and CHP.

Although it's possible there were some indirect talks between the PKK and the gov't, it's ridiculous to claim that the AKP and PKK are working together. The PKK is not very suspicious about the AKP government. And also the pro-Kurdish DTP party is not very pro-AKP. DTP MP Tugluk even proposed an alliance between Kemalists and Kurds against the 'Islamic threat' in an op-ed piece in the leftwing newspaper Radikal, owned by the Dogan group (which was fined by the tax authorities).

Anyway, some cartoons about this can be found here.

More:

Opposition agitating Kurdish-Turkish conflict

Turkey focusing on France again

2009-10-26T13:57:00.000-07:00

Turkey is trying to convince France of combating the Kurdistan Workers Party. For some EU countries combating the PKK is not a priority and they turn a blind eye to PKK activities as long as they don't threat the social order and stability in the country. Despite of this, there have been sporadic arrests some EU countries and some actions against PKK organizations.

Especially Germany took measures to criminalize the PKK's organizations and shut down PKK's media activities. French security forces have detained around 40 alleged PKK members since last June. The senior PKK leader Murat Karayilan warned France that this could disappoint Kurds. According to the PKK, the goal of France and Germany is to keep Turkey busy with fighting in order to stop Turkey's possible EU membership. Pro-PKK organizations demonstrated against the arrests.

Pro-Kurdish organizations often protest in the French city of Strasbourgh, because it's the seat of several European institutions such as the Council of Europe (with its European Court of Human Rights, its European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines and its European Audiovisual Observatory) and the Eurocorps as well as the European Parliament and the European Ombudsman of the European Union.

More:

Turkey is getting ready to host a critical summit, with Chief Constable of France due in attendance next month.

The visit became more important after French police raided the center of a terrorist organization and businessman Cem Uzan took shelter in France.

Turkish chief of police, Oguz Kagan Koksal, will submit a detailed file to his counterpart including activities of the PKK in France, its financial sources and a file regarding the extradition of Cem Uzan, leader of the Young Party.

Hurriyet

More about Kurds and France here.

Kurds start campaign for children in Turkey

2009-10-14T02:49:00.000-07:00

Kurdish HR organizations created a campaign called 'Justice for Children' . According to the Kurdish Centre for Human Rights: "Kurdish children have been the biggest victims of this ongoing war. It has fallen on their weak shoulders to have lived in such a violent time."

The petition was started by the 'Justice for Children Initiative' which was created after the arrest of 700 children during pro-PKK demonstrations in Diyarbakir on 28 March 2006. The initiative also created a 'dossier on children' which was posted on PKK sites. The reports also contains statistics on killed Kurdish children between 1989-2009 based on press reports of the pro-PKK news agency ANF and Turkish media.

The Turkish AKP-government promised new measures to prevent Kurdish children being jailed as part of the 'Kurdish initiative'.

Police Superintendent, Dr. Ali Dikici presented a different policy on the website of the Turkish army to prevent 'children from joining the PKK'. He emphasised that a military strategy is not enough to end the conflict and says community policing should be implemented in Kurdish regions to prevent children from supporting the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

But despite the promised efforts of the government, new policies by the Turkish police or campaigns of Kurdish human rights organizations, it's unlikely that Kurdish children can be left out of the conflict between the state and the PKK.

Dutch choir can also sing in Kurdish

2009-10-13T13:47:00.000-07:00

On 10 October the Kurdish Cultural Centrum organized a multicultural concert in the Dutch city of Leiden in cooperation with popular Kurdish artists like Nasir Rezazi. The Kurdish audience was surprised seeing Dutch people singing in Kurdish, after having suffered decades of cultural oppression.

Read more

Example of PKK's PR campaign

2009-10-12T04:00:00.001-07:00

Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) propaganda as expected, the state also used civilian casualties of the PKK (in the past PKK targeted village guards and their families) as propaganda for legitimizing violence and support for the 'war effort'. For instance in delegitimizing the PKK as an 'evil terrorist movement'. The PKK has the same strategy against the Turkish state and now to delegitimize the initiative of the Turkish government and get more support of the Kurdish youth. The same goes for islamist non-state actors:

What key images, phrases, and motifs are most often aimed at these young people to get them to join these new terrorist networks? And which of these are the most effective?

What triggers moral outrage among Muslims, as it would for any other person, is the image of a moral violation against a person with whom they empathize. These images are projected by the media, like Al Jazeera. They are part of reporting of events, and as such they are not directed at people. They are just the news. The rage they cause helps fuel the desire to get back at the violators on the screen.

Foreign Policy: Marc Sageman, The next generation of terror.

*Marc Sageman, author of Understanding Terror Networks, is a former CIA case officer. From 1986 to 1989 he worked with Islamic fundamentalists on a daily basis during the Afghan-Soviet war.

PKK media: Kurdish baby hit by gas grenade

2009-10-11T15:44:00.000-07:00

According to the pro-PKK news agency ANF a Kurdish baby called Mehmet Oytun (18 months) was hit by a gas grenade during pro-PKK demonstrations in Sirnak on 9 October. The police fired gas grenades into the home of PKK sympathizers and as a result the baby suffered a brain hemorrhage and skull fracture. I couldn't find the news item in pro-Turkish newspapers, thus I cannot confirm the news. In the recent past and distant past, Kurdish children have been killed as a result of the warfare between the state and the PKK.

Earlier before the Kurdish girl Ceylan Önkol (14) was probable killed by artillery fire, but the Turkish military denied involvement. The Kurdistan Workers Party used the incident in their campaigns and demonstrations against the Turkish state. According to PKK activists this is 'another sign' that the initiative of the Turkish government is only symbolic and fake. If the baby dies, the armed non-state actor PKK will use it in their psychological warfare against the state. In 2007 the Turkish army admitted it was losing the ´psychological war´ against the Kurdish armed non-governmental organization.

Al Jazeera on China's counter separatism policies

2009-10-10T07:55:00.001-07:00

Spray the Kuwaiti team with rose-water!

2009-10-09T16:24:00.000-07:00

Kuwaiti MP with Erbil governor

By Wladimir van Wilgenburg

During the Anfal genocide, the west and Arab countries alike ignored Iraq’s atrocities against the Kurds. But now Arab countries are establishing relations with Kurdistan and Arabic teams play soccer in Iraqi Kurdistan. These soccer matches change the memories of the past.

No Iraqi Kurd has ever forgotten the atrocities and killings under the regime of Saddam Hussein. Although it might be less important for the youth. During the 1990s, when a Kurdish delegation visited Kuwait and tried to get Kuwait to condemn the spraying of innocent civilians with poison gas, a Kuwaiti official responded with the retort: "What did you expect to be sprayed with, rose-water?"

But now a Kuwaiti team will visit Erbil. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) accepted recently Erbil’s bid to host its quarter-final second leg match in the AFC Champions League, against Kuwait SC. The Francois Hariri International Stadium, in the capital city of Iraqi Kurdistan, will be the venue of the game held on September 30.

It should be good for the Kurdish soccer fans to spray Kuwait FC with rose-water to remember the Kuwaitis of their past ignorance, my close Kurdish friend Salan reminded me, when he heard about the match. Erbil earlier hosted the match between Iraq and Palestine, and Kurds cheered for the Iraqi team. Also the Palestinians were supportive of Saddam and even killed Kurds in Kirkuk and wept for him when he was hanged, but now they also play soccer in Kurdistan. They even prefer Erbil over Baghdad and forgot for a short time their mentality to accuse the Kurds of being ‘zionist’.

In Turkey a Kurdish football team played against a local Turkish club Kahramanmaraşspor to ease tensions and soccer was one of the reasons for improved relations between Armenia and Turkey. Even the Turkish president watched the first Turkish-Armenian match in Armenia. The match was not only for sports, but also to change memories of the past.

When Holland defeated Germany at the EK in 1988, one soccer fan had a funny banner with ‘Grandma, we got your bike back!”, a reference to the past. When Germany occupied Holland in 1941, the Germans stole our bikes and brought them to Germany. But the soccer match was the Dutch revenge. Let’s hope that the Kuwaiti match will result in a friendly victory of Erbil. Just spray them with rosewater and beat them to take revenge for the past!

(C) Rudaw

*BTW: Erbil lost with 0-1. A Kuwaiti MP also refused to comment on Halabja. "I don't like to comment on this subject," when asked by my colleague Mariwan Salihi.

Protests in Kurdish southeast against 'conspiracy'

2009-10-09T14:31:00.000-07:00

Atalay visits Diyarbakir (in background closed shops) (Photo: Hurriyet.com.tr)

On 9 October 1998 the PKK-leader Abdullah Ocalan was expelled from Syria, from which he received support in the past. Due to Turkish threats of war, Syria decided it couldn't use the PKK any more. Now Syria is the 'best friend' of Turkey, while in the past Syria was described like this: "Syria’s use of terror to have political and economic gainings is the characteristic of the oppressive dictatorial regime and it is not solely against Turkey."

From there Ocalan went to several countries and on the evening of 15 February 1999, Ocalan was arrested at Nairobi airport in Kenya. In general it is thought that Ocalan was captured with American and Israeli help. The PKK remembers this 'conspiracy' every year on both 9 October and on 15 February.

When the Turkish Minister of Interior visited Diyarbakir on Friday, most shops were closed. He went there for 'regional diplomacy'. There were also clashes between the police and demonstrators in Diyarbakır, Urfa, Batman and Şırnak and other Kurdish cities of Turkey.

See Hurriyet:
Hürriyet Video'larını izlemek için Flash 7 veya daha yüksek eklenti yüklenmeniz gerekmektedir. Yüklemek için tıklayınız!!!

Hürriyet Video'larını izlemek için Flash 7 veya daha yüksek eklenti yüklenmeniz gerekmektedir. Yüklemek için tıklayınız!!!

More:
Turkey's Kurdish initiative: Is the Glass Half Empty or Fully Empty?
Jamestown: Turkish Political Actors Reassess Their Stance on the Kurdish Initiative

Kurdish Iranian party: “We are not rejecting the armed struggle”

2009-10-09T10:06:00.000-07:00
Loghman Ahmedi is the representative of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan in the United Kingdom. He spoke with Rudaw about KDP-I’s relations with other Kurdish parties and the future of the Iranian Kurds.

Read more

Al Jazeera: Kurdish group vows long fight with Iran

2009-10-09T10:04:00.000-07:00

*Comment: PJAK is a member of the Kurdistan Democratic Confederation (KCK) (PKK's executive council).

Turkish police arrests leftwing militants

2009-10-04T10:04:00.000-07:00

Turkish police have detained 17 suspects linked to an extreme left-wing group allegedly planning terror attacks and assassinations to sabotage reforms giving greater rights to the Kurdish community, a report said yesterday.

AFP

According to AFP, the militants were part of the Revolutionary Command, which has ties the Kurdistan Workers Party. See "Killed leftist militant hailed by Kurdish PKK". More info about the group can be found on their website. Earlier arrests were made in April in connection to "Ergenekon case".

Taraf: There were talks between Turkey and PKK in 2006

2009-10-04T09:57:00.001-07:00

The Turkish daily Taraf reports there have been negotiations between the state and the Kurdistan Workers Party in Europe about a ceasefire. A liaison officer of the Milli Istihbarat Teskilati (MIT) (National Intelligence Organization) spoke with the Ocalan's representative in EU Sabri Ok and the DTP. As a result there was a ceasefire in October 2006 with the help of 'western' circles and the PKK-leader Abdullah Ocalan, but in May 2007 the PKK continued it's military activities again. In the past there have also been talks between PKK and the state. Also in the Netherlands.

Update:
Cengiz Candar gives more info on PKK, Ozal and the meetings between the Turkish government and the PKK -> 'İmralı’yla görüşülüyor' .

In the past there was also a plan by MIT to end the PKK and negotiations between MIT and the PKK-leader in Imrali and PKK generals in Qandil.

Turkish army denies involvement in death of civilian

2009-10-02T12:21:00.000-07:00

‘No mortar launched during incident’

Regarding press reports about a young girl who was killed in a mortar explosion in the Lice district of Diyarbakır, military spokesman Brig. Gen. Metin Gürak said, “We are upset by the death of a very young civilian.”

He said there was an ongoing investigation launched by the public prosecutor into the incident. “According to initial inspections carried out regarding the incident, it has been found out that no mortar launch was conducted in the region during the incident,” he said.

Read more --> Hurriyet

Kurdish girl killed by Turkish artillery fire

2009-10-02T07:47:00.000-07:00
Ceylan Önkol (14) was probable killed by Turkish artillery fire. See more at Today's Zaman and Taraf. PKK's TV-station Roj TV immediately reported about the incident and had live coverage. The death of the 14 year old girl arouses anger in the European Kurdish diaspora and will be used by the PKK for recruitment and support. Also a website was established to focus more attention on Kurdish children getting killed, targeted or jailed in Turkey.

See Youtube

Zaman: MIT tried to prevent PKK from becoming political group

2009-10-02T07:43:00.000-07:00

The General Staff focused on a different topic during the meetings and expressed its uneasiness over the possibility of Öcalan's release some day with a general amnesty. According to the minutes of the meeting on June 3, a MİT official said Greece, Iran, Germany and Syria were highly disturbed that Öcalan would tell Turkish authorities about the aid of those countries to the outlawed PKK. “The more information we can get on financial aid flowing to the PKK from foreign countries, the more successful we can be in preventing the terrorist group from turning into a political group,” noted the official - Today's Zaman

Strange report and probable misinformation or disinformation. PKK already has political groups (DTP and other fronts) and why would the government release Ocalan in an amnesty? If for instance the AKP-government would release Ocalan, the MHP and CHP would immediately use this against them.

Switzerland's PKK and terrorism policy

2009-10-01T09:14:00.000-07:00

“We do not forbid the PKK as an organization. We don’t blacklist any organization except al-Qaeda. That is not our way to combat these organizations because it is not useful to forbid them,” said Leupold.

“We look at each specific case and prosecute individuals committing or perpetrating crimes on Swiss territory and, of course, if the conditions are fulfilled within our legal framework, we extradite them to other countries like Turkey. That’s our way to deal with such organizations,” he said.

Hurriyet
In the past Germany had the same policy, but this changed after Turkish pressure and PKK attacks in Germany in 1993. German security officials complained about the measures afterwards.

Cooperation LTTE and PKK confirmed?

2009-10-01T09:01:00.000-07:00

A human rights organization, the Humanitarian Law Project, filed suit on behalf of individuals associated with two designated terror groups, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). In both cases the individuals were seeking to advance human rights and peacemaking efforts on behalf of the designated terror groups. The suit says they could be charged with a violation of the material support statute even though they intend to support only lawful and nonviolent activities related to the PKK and LTTE.

CSmonitor.com
More court cases: The USA vs PJAK case .

The vicepresident of the KCK Bozan Tekin (PKK's leadership in Qandil) said in an interview with me that he is not aware of any connections with the LTTE and that the cooperation of Kurds (Fed-Bir) with Tamils, is their own initiative.

Wladimir: What’s KCK relation with LTTE?

Bozan Tekin: "The guerilla don’t have direct relations. On a regional basis and in Europe in general, there might be Kurds with relations. But directly our council [PKK command] or guerrilla's do not have any direct relations at all. For example Kurds living in EU protested against genocide against Tamils. As an executive council KCK we also protested against the genocide."

Iraqi Kurdish opposition starts campaign in Europe

2009-10-01T08:55:00.000-07:00

On Sunday 23 September the Kurdish opposition movement Change (Gorran) organized a conference in the Dutch city of Delft to prepare for the Iraqi elections in Europe. Two Gorran officials spoke with Rudaw about Gorran’s European election strategy and the situation in Kurdistan. They say there won’t be any political parties in Europe, like in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Jamal Hama Karim and Safin Mala Qara both used to be part of Talabani’s Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), but now Karim is the Gorran EU-representative and Safin Malla Qara is the representative of Gorran in Erbil. They visited Holland with Gorran EU commission members Dr Chia Abaas and Mahmud Murad. There were also Change list meetings in Germany, Austria, United Kingdom and Holland. The rival of Gorran, the PUK, is also preparing for the Iraqi elections in Europe.

Read more

Turkey plans to disband village guards

2009-09-30T14:21:00.001-07:00
ANKARA [MENL] -- Turkey plans to disband a controversial counter-insurgency
militia accused of widespread abuse and corruption. A government report has recommended the disbanding of the paramilitary Village Guard, meant to fight the Kurdish insurgency in southeastern Turkey. The guard, with 82,000 members in 22 provinces, has been mandated to monitor and combat the Kurdish Workers Party, which contains a major presence along the border with Iraq.

menewsline.com

Anyone can confirm this?

Edit:

Turkish government spokesman and Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Çiçek has said the government has no plans to eliminate the controversial village guard system as part of the democratic initiative.

“The government has no such plans,” Çiçek said, as quoted by CNN-Türk. He added that only official statements should be taken into consideration in the process, in reference to news that the government was about to abolish the entire village guard system.

Today's Zaman

Kurdish opposition: PUK wants to blackmail us

2009-09-30T07:26:00.000-07:00

By Wladimir van Wilgenburg

Delft - Gorran members Safin Mala Qara and Jamal Hama Karim accuse in an exclusive interview with Rudaw, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) of blackmail. They say the PUK is trying to blame their mistakes in the Sulemani province on Gorran, after the revelation of corruption scandals in Halabja, Chamchamal and Sulemani.

“This is an important goal: [PUK] they are trying to blame their failures on the provincial council and mayor, which mostly consist of Gorran supporters. They are trying to put the blame on Gorran and want to give Gorran a bad image,” says Gorran Erbil-representative Safin Mala Qara.

According to the Gorran EU representative Jamal Hama Karim the Change list is against all types of corruption, even if it’s from their own party. “We think there is a clear political purpose of this. We are against every kind of corruption.” He added: “Corruption should be combated top down, not from bottom up. Why nothing happens with the KRG vice premier Omar Fattah who stole 18 million dollar?”

Kurdistani Nwe daily newspaper, a mouthpiece of PUK, reported that the Suleimaniya governor, the Suleimaniya provincial council, and the Halabja mayor are Goran supporters, and during the last election campaign they spent government money to campaign for Goran.

Both the Suleimaniya governorate, governor Dana Ahmed Majeed and the Halabja mayor Fuad Saleh are accused of embezzling a lot of money (Photo: Rudaw).

© Rudaw

NGO: Unexpected high female genital mutilation rates in Kurdistan

2009-09-28T09:17:00.000-07:00

By Wladimir van Wilgenburg

Leiden - Researcher Arvid Vormann of the German NGO WADI working in Iraqi Kurdistan says research shows that female genital mutilation (FGM) of women in Iraqi Kurdistan is higher then they expected. Iraqi Kurds are suspicious about the high rates, but say they want the practice to be dealt with.

“72,7% of the women are genitally mutilated in the areas of Arbil, Suleymaniyah and Germiyan and Kirkuk,” Arvid Vormann wrote her blog. “In Arbil governorate the rate is comparatively low (63%), in Suleymaniyah it is as high as 77,9% and in Garmyan it reaches even 81,2%.”

Read more: here

Minoo Alinia also added later on: "I have interviewed a number of women both activists and "victims" and I can say that women's situation in Iraqi Kurdistan is really bad and they live and work under a very hard condition. FGM can be seen as only one aspect and one kind of women's oppression in Iraqi Kurdistan. I mean it is not only limited to FGM. The oppression is highly existing in all levels of social life: on individual, institutional and structural levels. You can add also these lines to that."

Finnish police is interested in PKK

2009-09-26T19:15:00.000-07:00
The Finnish 'extortion' case has to do with the PKK. Members of Kurdish organizations consider the possibility that the arrest of two Kurdish men for collecting money, could be related to the interest of the police in the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). They say, same things happened in other European countries and that the Finnish police have shown interest in Kurdish cultural centres.

PKK General Says Kurdish Militants are Ready for War or Peace: An Exclusive Interview with Murat Karayilan

2009-09-25T13:25:00.000-07:00
Murat Karayilan is the acting commander of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (Partiya Karkeren Kurdistan - PKK) and chairman of the executive council of the Kurdish Democratic Confederation (Koma Civaken Kurdistan - KCK). Karayilan, whose surname means “black snake,” joined the PKK in 1979, just a year before the 1980 Turkish military coup. The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by the European Union, the United States and Turkey. In an August 11 interview with Karayilan in a PKK camp located in the mountains of northern Iraq, Karayilan said that he would like to return to his home country. “But I am not dreaming about this, I am a realist.”

Read more at Jamestown

Kurds: Iraqi shoe thrower should thank America

2009-09-25T13:11:00.000-07:00

By Wladimir van Wilgenburg

Utrecht - While in general Iraqi Arabs consider the Iraqi shoe thrower Muntazer al-Zaidi as a hero, because he threw his boots against the former American president Bush, the pro-American Iraqi Kurds see his actions as immoral. “They think his action was violating journalism laws, besides that it was immoral,” says Meran Muhamed (19) a student in Sulaimani.

Muhamed even says that the trial of al-Zaidi was fair. “It’s better that the court censor him for a while.” The freelance Kurdish journalist Kamal Chomani (24) agrees. “His trial was good, I think it was very good that the Iraqi government sent the case to the court.” But Chomani says there are still some Kurdish ‘Islamists and communists who see him as a smart and brave man.”

Hemin Osman, a Kurdish student from London, also emphasises that al-Zaidi’s actions were shameful. “In many ways the event was shameful, it tarnished the integrity of the Iraqi government and it harmed the image of journalists reporting in the country.”

American Kurd Ara Alan (27) thinks that Al-Zaidi’s actions are seen by Kurds as ‘outrageous and disrespectful’. “We condemn what he did toward president Bush. We have high respect and appreciation to the former president for liberating not only the people of Kurdistan but Iraq as a whole from the tyrant Saddam Hussein.”

Osman also says Iraqi Kurds see the Americans as liberators. “Since the toppling of Saddam most Kurds have benefited from peace, stability and economic prosperity so many Kurds are grateful for the US invasion in 2003."

Ara Alan even says al-Zaidi should be thankful. “He received a fair trial, that he should be thankful to justice, democracy and equality in the eyes of the law that was brought to the country of Iraq by USA.”

Rudaw.net

Two Finnish Kurds arrested for extortion

2009-09-22T13:59:00.000-07:00
Two Kurds were arrested in Finland for extortion. Kurds say they collected money for cultural centre. If anyone got information about this, let me know. No Turkish or Kurdish newspaper reported about this. Would be interesting if this are accusations against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The same happened in Germany, France and other countries.

PKK uses funeral to show off support

2009-09-22T13:41:00.000-07:00

Heval Sila (Aliye Timur) died in Turkish military operations, together with 7 other PKK insurgents. Recently PKK's ceasefire ended and the Turkish military promised more military operations and called on the PKK to stop fighting. The PKK used the funeral of the killed PKK militant to show off it's political support to the Turkish state. According to PKK sources more then 80.000 people participated in her funeral in Van.

More photo's from PKK website here (This page is banned in Turkey).

So-called Middle-Eastern experts

2009-09-19T09:26:00.000-07:00

Kurds love to listen to foreigners. I know this from experience. In the west there are a lot of ‘Middle-Eastern experts’ who seem to not know the local languages and still claim to be an expert on this regions. For instance, recently there was a Dutch politician Dries van Aght who wrote about Palestine, but he doesn’t even know the Arabic language.

Read more