SALON

Wednesday, Oct 24, 2007 10:09 AM UTC

Another Iraq invasion?

Political tensions boil in Turkey as thousands call for war against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq, and the White House scrambles to stop it.

By

Topics: Iraq, National security, Middle East,

The mood in Turkey is becoming increasingly jingoistic as thousands take to the streets, calling for war against the Kurdish rebel organization PKK and an invasion of northern Iraq. But Baghdad has promised to curb the Kurds.

Anger drives them onto the streets, anger provoked by the images of dead soldiers shown on Turkish television. Thousands of demonstrators walk along Istiklal Caddesi, or Independence Avenue, Istanbul’s longest shopping street. They are calling for war: war against the Kurds, against the PKK, against Iraq. “We have waited long enough,” reads one poster. “Allah wants this war,” is the message on another.

People have been protesting throughout the country since Sunday evening, after it was revealed that rebels from the Kurdish separatist organization the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) had killed 12 Turkish soldiers in eastern Turkey. It is mainly young people who take to the streets, with Turkish flags in their hands, whistles in their mouths and hatred in their eyes.

“We have waited long enough,” says Erkan, a young car mechanic from Istanbul. “It’s time to strike.” His face is pale and his right hand is clenched in a fist. “We are all Turks, we are all soldiers!” he calls. Many of the demonstrators sympathize with the right-wing youth organization the Gray Wolves. Their message to the Kurds is clear: Admit you are Turkish, or die.

The PKK, which has bases in the mountains of northern Iraq, has been fighting for decades for an independent Kurdistan. But the attacks of recent weeks were the heaviest in a long time. Last Wednesday, the Turkish parliament approved — by an overwhelming majority — a measure that clears the way for a military incursion into northern Iraq.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is still hesitating, though, not least after the personal intervention of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. But Erdogan said Tuesday that Turkey couldn’t wait indefinitely for the Iraqi government to act against the PKK. “We cannot wait forever,” he said during a visit to the U.K. for talks with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. “We have to make our own decisions.”

Brown said Britain was working with Turkey on “all efforts that are necessary so that terrorists cannot move from Iraq into Turkey.” The U.K., like the U.S., is keen to stop Turkey from invading northern Iraq, fearing the destabilization of the region.

Diplomatic efforts continued elsewhere Tuesday as Turkish forces massed on the Iraqi border. Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan met with Turkish leaders in Baghdad to press them to crack down on the PKK. “We … don’t wish our historical and friendly ties with Iraq to be ruined because of a terrorist organization,” he said at a news conference after meeting with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari.

Zebari, for his part, said Baghdad would “actively help Turkey to overcome this menace.” But Babacan rejected any offer of a cease-fire by the PKK. A cease-fire is only “possible between states and regular forces,” he said. “The problem here is that we’re dealing with a terrorist organization.”

Aside from international diplomacy, though, many demonstrators in the streets are calling for war — now. Even among liberal Turks and university students, the mood is edgy. Many believe Turkey has allowed itself to be provoked by the PKK for long enough. “Erdogan shouldn’t allow himself to be pressured any longer, we need to invade Iraq,” says 23-year-old political studies student Ayla. “The Kurdish problem cannot be resolved through diplomacy alone.”

In the cafeteria of Istanbul’s Bilgi University, one of the country’s most prestigious schools, students hand out Turkish flags and black ribbons. “We want to express our sympathy for the dead soldiers,” says Gözde, one of the campaign’s initiators, and hits the table with her fist. “I ask myself how many Turks still need to die before our government finally does something about it.” “Nobody wants war,” adds fellow student Metin. “But if that’s the price of security, we have no other choice.”

There are still voices of reason warning against a military attack, however. The northern region of Iraq inhabited by Kurds is the only largely peaceful area in the war-torn country. “If the Turkish army crosses the border, northern Iraq will fall into a maelstrom of violence,” says Dursun Tüyloglu, a lecturer in politics at Bilgi University.

According to Tüyloglu, over the last few years, the Turkish government has started to give extra support to the country’s economically weak eastern part. As a result, during the most recent parliamentary elections, more than half of the Kurds there voted for Erdogan’s ruling AKP party. “The PKK is losing its grass-roots support in Turkey, and they know it,” he says. “That’s why they are bombing their way back into the spotlight.”

In his opinion, every time a soldier is killed, the pressure on Erdogan’s government increases.

Turkish actor Ozan Ayhan is sure of one thing: “A war in Iraq would only profit the PKK.” The terrorists can’t be beaten with weapons, he says. “We have to appeal to moderate Kurds.”

The reverse is true for now — the mood in Turkey is overheated. On Sunday evening the street demonstrators in Istanbul wanted to storm a Kurdish neighborhood called Talabasi. The police managed to hold them back.

Emrah, 26, grew up in Diyarbakir, a Kurdish stronghold in southern Anatolia. He studied economics in Mersin and wants to find work in Istanbul. “I’m afraid,” he says. “I don’t know what’s going on in this country.” Lately he’s suffered more and more abuse: “People who were my friends just a few months ago won’t talk to me anymore.”

Emrah had a job interview at a bank last week. When he said he came from Diyarbakir and was Kurdish, he received a withering look. “I work hard, but no one is giving me a chance,” he says.

He lights a cigarette and pulls on it in hurried drags. “War would just make everything worse.”

This article has been provided by Der Spiegel through a special arrangement with Salon.

More Maximilian Popp.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 7 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

vote
Slave descendants seek equal rights from Cherokee Nation
54 points55 points | 3 comments
vote
Oklahoma senator: Tornado aid “totally different” from Sandy aid
40 points41 points | 6 comments
vote
Oklahoma senator who voted against federal funding for Hurricane Sandy victims: Tornado aid “totally different” from Sandy aid
38 points39 points | comment
vote
"Apparently, we have deserving and undeserving disasters, Oklahoma senators James Inhofe and Tom Coburn explain"
28 points29 points | 2 comments
vote
Obama opposes GOP bill on Keystone XL oil pipeline: The White House said Tuesday that the bill “seeks to circumvent longstanding and proven processes” by removing a requirement for a presidential permit. The legislation also says no new environmental studies are needed.
21 points22 points | 2 comments

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: So long, Sookie Stackhouse

Recommendations