1OA - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, September 5, 1996
CRISIS IN THE GULF
IRAQ
Continued from Page 1
Turkey, a key NATO ally that bor-
ders northern Iraq, are sensitive at the
moment. The new Turkish prime min-
ister, Neemettin Erbakan, is an Islamic
conservative, and the United States
doesn't want to risk pushing him away
from the West.
A U.S. attack in nothern Iraq could
easily ignite a much larger conflagra-
tion, thereby sending Kurdish
refugees pouring into Turkey, as hap-
pened in 1991 after the Gulf War.
Turkeyais already a bit touchy
about having the U.S.-led forces
patrolling the no-fly zone over north-
ern Iraq from bases in southeastern
Turkey.
In the U.S. calculations, hitting the
north wasn't worth the risk, even it
that's where Saddam's army was
active.
The Americans declared the mis-
sion a success. But the latest U.S. con-
frontation with Saddam, like previous
showdowns, has produced inconclu-
sive results.
When the dust clears from the latest
fight, Saddam may have a bit less
room to maneuver. But the Kurds will
still feel vulnerable.
Turkish eaders
threaten to
invade Iraq
Los Angieles Tlics
ANKARA, Turkey - A big loser in
new regional tumult, Turkey yesterday
threatened new armed intervention of
its own against separatist guerrillas in
northern Iraq and demanded compen-
sation for American derailing of an
Iraqi oil-for-food plan.
A key pillar in the U.S.-led coalition
against Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein
during the 1991 Persian Gulf War, the
Turks have long complained about the
bitter aftermath for them. Now, under
Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan, a
conservative Islamist who seeks better
n the Turkish southeast for more than
a decade in quixotic hopes of \ inning
independence for Kurdish areas.
A Foreign Ministry off ial said
later yesterday that no operation was
under way and that C(iller's remarks
should be taken as a warning. \\e
respect Iraq s territorial integrity and
political unity, he said.
Turkey believes that a power va
urn in northern Iraq not only givest
PKK a base but also raise the unac-
ceptable threat of a Kurdish state on
Turkey's border.
Increased Turkish military move-
AP PHOTO
A first-strike Tomahawk missile is launched from the aft section of the U.S. Navy's Ticonderoga class cruiser, the U.S.S.
Shiloh, Tuesday morning in the northern Arabian Gulf.
Iraq may continue to press aggression
ties with both
Iran and Iraq,
they are chaf-
ing openly at
the security
and economic
costs of new
unrest.
Yesterday,
Turkey sig-
naled that mili-
tary prepara-
"Turkey's loss
have to be
compensated...
- OmerAk
ments since
Iraq's weekend
s attack on the
northern city of
Irbil have led to
im pro0m pW
clashes between
Turkish forces
kbel and PKK bands
eson within Turkey.
SThe government
says 69.rebels
The Washington Post
AMMAN, Jordan - Although Iraq
was reported to be pulling back its
forces from its northern regions after
absorbing 44 U.S. cruise-missile
strikes, gestures of defiance yesterday
suggested that Baghdad may continue
to press its confrontation with the
United States on a reduced scale.
That may not be as crazy as it
sounds.
Unlike President Saddam Hussein's
invasion of Kuwait in 1990, his week-
end thrust into Kurdish-populated ter-
ritory in northern Iraq had a veneer of
legitimacy. It occurred within Iraq's
own borders and at the invitation of the
Kurdistan Democratic Party, one of
two main Kurdish factions vying for
control of the area.
Moreover, Saddam said he acted in
response to incursions into northern
Iraq by Iranian troops, who have sided
with the rival Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan.
For those and other reasons, the
Iraqi move in Kurdistan has been
received with some sympathy in many
Arab countries - including pro-
Western states such as Egypt - for
whom the fear of Iraqi fragmentation
and Iranian influence is even greater
than fear of Saddam himself. Not sur-
prisingly, Iraqi officials have sought to
exploit the divisions between the
United States and its allies over the
propriety of the American response,
which was condemned by France and
Russia, among others.
"We did not violate international
law, we did not violate United Nations
resolutions and I challenge any repre-
sentative in the American administra-
tion to ... tell the American public ...
upon what (provision in international
law) this aggression was based and
justified," Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister
Tariq Aziz said in an interview
Tuesday with CNN.
The Clinton administration, in
explaining its moves, has cited U.N.
Security Council resolutions calling on
Saddam to avoid persecuting Iraqi
minorities. But Aziz pointed out that
those resolutions do not specifically
bar Iraq from using ground troops in
Kurdish areas or within the Kurdish.
populated mountains north of the 36th
Parallel that are protected from air
strikes by the U.S. and allied patrols.
Besides creating new strains in the
anti-Saddam alliance that has pre-
vailed since the 1991 Persian Gulf
War, Saddam's incursion into northern
Iraq has served important domestic
needs. It has demonstrated to his sanc-
tions-weary populace that he still con-
trols a formidable military machine.
Foreign Ministry
spokespei
rn,
ORIENTAL
Chinese Cuisine
tions were under way for a cross-bor-
der raid against Turkish Kurdish rebels
sheltering in areas of northern Iraq
controlled by feuding Iraqi Kurds. And
Foreign Minister Tansu Ciller wrote
President Clinton asking for help in
minimizing Turkish losses as the coun-
try continues to respect the U.N.
embargo against its Iraqi neighbor.
"Turkey's losses have to be compen-
sated one way or the other," Foreign
Ministry spokesperson Omer Akbel
said.
Representatives of the two main
Iraqi Kurdish parties said in interviews
they were summoned to the Foreign
Ministry yesterday morning and
warned of Turkish concerns that guer-
rillas of the Kurdistan Workers Party
(PKK) were taking advantage of their
dispute.
Ciller told reporters: "Intelligence
has reached us that the PKK is massed
at our border. We have to stop the infil-
trations and maintain our security.
Necessary measures will be taken."
Such public warnings have usually
presaged strikes into northern Iraq
against the Syrian-supported PKK,
which has battled government forces
and three soldiers have been killed.
Turkey and Iran regularly vow to
respect Iraqi sovereignty. But since
Baghdad's control of the Iraqi north
lapsed after the Gulf War, both h
mounted expeditions against Kur
enemies there. Typically, the incur-
sions draw little public comment out-
side the region.
In the mid-1980s, Turkey signed an
accord with Hussein that let its troops
go up to 12 miles into Iraq in pursuit o
the PKK. Since the gulf war, it has
done so repeatedly. In March 1995,
35,000 Turkish soldiers marched into
northern Iraq against the PKK
stayed there for five weeks. In Ju,
another 8,000 PKK-hunting troops
crossed the border.
Also this summer, Iran sent an
armored column with artillery into
northern Iraq to attack rebel Iranian
Kurds. Diplomatic sources say perhaps
200 Iranian Revolutionary Guards
remain in the northern Iraqi city of
Sulaymaniyah. Iraq's Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan (PUK), which is headqujL
tered in the city, says there are
Iranians there or in any other areas it
controls along the Iranian frontier.
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