Good Neighbors
By Tanya Goudsouzian • Jun 1st, 2010Bakir stresses that the KRG’s policy is not to interfere in the internal politics of Turkey, and more significantly, he underlines the KRG’s commitment to the territorial integrity of Turkey.
“We respect the sovereignty of Turkey and their territorial integrity,” he says, alluding to longstanding concerns among neighboring countries, notably Turkey, Iran and Syria, over Kurdish territorial ambitions.
Bakir lauds Turkey’s “opening” policies toward Kurds and Armenians as measures that could help heal the wounds, but he refrains from commenting on the closure of the DTP party. As for the PKK, Bakir reiterates that it is not a military problem and as such does not warrant militaryintervention. “<b>This problem is political in nature. We don’t believe there is a military solution for it</b>. We have stated clearly to the Turkish side that short of military operations, we are ready to do anything to solve this problem peacefully. We are ready to lend a helping hand in this regard. Having a safe and secure border is in the interest of both sides,” he says.
Kirkuk question.
Aside from the rights of their brethren in Turkey, an issue far closer to home for Iraqi Kurds is the fate of oil-rich Kirkuk. One of the greatest obstacles to resolving the Kirkuk question is believed to be Turkey, which backs the claims of the Turkmen minority and opposes Kurdish calls for the annexation of the city to the Kurdistan Region.
The concern among some Turkish officials is that an economically viable Iraqi Kurdistan with Kirkuk as its capital could pave the way toward full-fledged independence, and inspire similar demands by Kurds in Turkey.
The KRG has been calling for the implementation of Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution, which would “normalize” the demographics of Kirkuk and other disputed territories – i.e. reverse the Arabization policy of the previous regime – then stage a popular referendum to determine the fate of the city. The Americans have warned the KRG to tone down their demands for accelerating the much-delayed process for fear that it would further ignite tensions both internally and with neighboring countries.
In the recent Iraqi elections, the Turkmen, Arabs and other minorities manuevered themselves in an ‘anythingbut- a-Kurd’ campaign in Kirkuk. With the Kurds divided along multiple lists, this meant that the Kurds lost three vital seats in the city as well as seats in Baghdad and Diyala among others.
Earlier this year, the Turkish consul in Mosul – another hotly contested city – said that, while his country seeks tohelp all Iraqis, it gives priority to assisting Turkmen “wherever they are in Iraq.”
Meanwhile the rail link that runs between Iraq and Turkey via Mosul was reopened in February 2010 after a sevenyear closure following the American-led liberation, reinforcing trade links between Turkey and the south of Iraq.
Bakir is quick to reject the interference of neighbors or other foreign countries in Iraq’s internal affairs.
“We are part of Iraq on a regional level and federal level. The leadership at the federal level has made it clear that internal matters are Iraqi issues. We have said that we need assistance but for Iraqi issues, it is in the interest of Iraq that neighbors don’t interfere in internal affairs,” says Bakir. “Neighboring countries have followed these issues and made statements, but this is an Iraqi issue and there is a roadmap to solve it in the Iraqi constitution. A historic sign of our growing understanding is the opening of a Turkish consulate in Erbil.”
There is no doubt the opening of a Turkish consulate in Erbil signals the consolidation of many years of mutually beneficial relations. Yet critics are apt to wonder whether this also means that Turkey will recognize the “Kurdistan Region” as such, or simply continue referring to it as northern Iraq – a term that infuriates Iraqi Kurds, who believe it undermines their political achievements.
“We in the KRG do not make the issue of the name ‘Kurdistan’ a problem. The essence is more important than the name. The opening of the consulate shows how far we have come,” says Bakir
The Kurds are keen to consolidate this progress. Nechirvan Barzani, former Prime Minister of the KRG and Co-Chairman of the Kurdistan Democatic Party (KDP), recently made a long awaited official visit to Turkey, where he had a meeting with the Turkish Foreign Minister and promoted the growing investment opportunities in his region.
Meanwhile, hundreds of Turkish companies are mobilized in Iraqi Kurdistan, ready to benefit when the KRG launches $100 billion in infrastructure projects.
