Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris

Revue de Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro
de la Prensa-Baszn Ozeti
If Bashar instead had sought peace with Israel and closer ties with the United States, he would have risked being
undermined, or even assassinated by Hezbollah and the Iranians.
In many respects, Bashar's policy is a product of weakness, not strength. Hafez Assad was strong enough to
keep Saddam at arms length. Bashar is not. Hafez was strong enough to resist calls for a more radical, but risky
policy towards Israel from his own generals and security chiefs. The young/ inexperienced Bashar cannot afford
to alienate them. Hafez could defy Iran on occasion. Bashar does not yet dare to.
For decades, U.S. and Israel analysts complained about Hafez Assad's supposedly baleful influence in the
Middle East. Very soon, they may have cause to wish it was still there.
* * * * *
Turkish Troops Reported in Iraq
Washington Post January 7, 2001;Page A19
By John Ward Anderson
IST~UL, Jan. 6 -- Thousand~ of Turkish troops have reportedly swept into northern Iraq in preparation for a
major crackdown on the KurdIsh Workers' Party (PKK), a violent separatist group that has been fighting for a
Kurdish homeland in southeastern Turkey for more than 15 years.
There was no official confirmation or comment by the Turkish government about the military incursion, which
was reported in today's edition of Hurriyet newspaper, a leading Turkish daily. The newspaper said that soldiers
and armored vehicles began crossing into Iraq on Dec. 20 and that 10,000 troops were now massed near the northeastern
Iraqi town of Sulaymaniyah, about 90 miles south of the Turkish border, near the Iraq-Iran border.
The newspaper, without citing sources, said that no armed clashes had occurred yet. It said the troop transfer was
complete and a major operation against the PKK was expected to begin soon. In recent years, Turkey has launched
~umerous incursions into Iraq to attack PKK strongholds, taking advantage of a NATO-enforced "no-fly"
zone m the northern part of the country to launch ground operations without fear of Iraqi counterattacks.
The no-fly zone was established by NATO at the end of the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Turkey, a NATO member,
allows the alliance to use Turkish air bases along the Iraqi border for planes that patrol the zone.
Hurriyet reported that Turkey's most recent intervention was requested by a PKK rival, an Iraqi Kurdish group
called the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), which reportedly has been engaged in heavy fighting with the PKK
in recent weeks. The paper quoted a PKK leader as saying that 150 of his soldiers were killed in combat with the
PUK in the last week.
The crackdown in Iraq comes as PKK rebel operations in Turkey have been almost eliminated, after a IS-year uprising
that left 30,000people dead or missing and 3,600 villages in southeastern Turkey destroyed.
The PKK launched its separatist movement in 1984,but the drive was effectively squelched with the February 1999
capture of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, who subsequently ordered the organization to end its armed struggle and
withdraw its fighters from Turkey.
Ocalan, who was tried and sentenced to death in Turkey, is being held in a special prison outside Istanbul while he
appeals the sentence. His case, and Turkey's handling of its Kurdish problem in general, have become key issues in
the country's bid to become a member of the European Union, which opposes the death sentence and is concerned
about widespread human rights violations committed during the Kurdish rebellion.
The EU also has encouraged Turkey to address some of the underlying problems that fuel Kurdish resentment, such
as a prohibition against Kurdish-language television and radio broadcasts. About 12 million of Turkey's 65 million
people are Kurds.
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