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

Revue de Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro de la Prensa-Basm Özeti
According to Salar Doski, a PUK representative in Canada, the new PUK prime minister will be Dr Barham Saleh
and he has been asked to form a new cabinet. Dr Salih has served as the director of the PUK bureau of international
relations in Washington and has been representllg PUK in the Washington Peace negotiations between PUK and
KDP:In ffie~past DrSIililYhas been an advocafe of-Kurdish indepen-dence and-he-was famous-forhis stance against
Turkey in Washington negotiations, resisting fighting PKK alongside Turkey. Kurdish observers see the appointment
of Dr Saleh as another sign of the ongoing struggle inside PUK for party leadership. The move by Talabani has angered
Fereidun Abdul Qader, another high ranking PUK official, who has prepared himself for the post. The scrambling
for power in PUK has further increased following Talabani's recent move in taking his son Bafil Talabani to
Ankara. "Talabani is now grooming his new prince for power" commented a Kurdish observer.
.'
.\
UPI - 18 January 2001 11:14 (ET)
By DERK KINNANE ROELOFSMA
Turk, Iranian rivalry in Iraq
WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 (UPI) -- Rival Turkish and Iranian intervention in northern Iraq is continuing and appears
more intense than previously believed, according to reports from the region received by United Press International.
The focus of their rivalry is a shooting conflict between the Turk~y-backed Patriotic Union of Kurdistan that controls
one part of the Iraqi north and the intruding Marxist, Iran-backed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
Earlier this year, the Turkish army and air force made an incursion into the Iraqi side of the common border to attack
PKK forces based there. Last December, the army moved units accompanied by artillery nearly 200 miles into Iraq to
support the PUK. Turkish forces are reported to have remained deep in Iraq. A PUK official estimated the number
of Turkish troops that arrived in December at about 700. Earlier reports put the figure at 10,000. Significantly, the
PUK's rival for power in Iraqi Kurdistan, the Kurdistan Democratic party, did not object to Turkish forces crossing
its temtory that adjoins Turkey, on their way to the PUK area that borders Iran.
PKK forces moved into Iran and Iraq after annoUncing they were withdrawing from Turkey in September 1999. The
Turkish military put the number who crossed over into the Iraq-Iran region at about 5,000.
Under the leadership of Abdullah Ocalan, now in a Turkish prison under sentence of death, the PKK conducted a
IS-year insurgency that Turkish sources said cost 37,000 lives and desolated much of southeastern Turkey.
Iran helped the PKK entrench itself at the northern end of the Qandil mountains that rise along the Iraqi-Iranian
frontier behind the town of Ranyia, Iraq. From their positions, the PKK could threaten Raniya and Qalat Diza, Iraq,
both situated on the road to the important Kurdish city of Sulaimani, Iraq, the seat of the PUK that is led by Jalal
Tàlabani. When fighting broke out, Iran demanded the PUK cease operations against the PKK, claiming it could not
tolerate fighting on its frontier. Last week, a large Iranian delegation went to Sulaimani for talks with Talabani.
Iran is also believed to be involved with small Kurdish factions around Halabja, Iraq. That town was brought to
world attention in 1988 when its residents were wiped out in a poison gas attacked mounted by the regime of
President Saddam Hussein. Fighting between the PUK and PKK began when Ocalan's group tried to move down
into the valley. Loc"alresidents complained of the PKK appropriating supplies from farmers and otherwise behaving
like an occupation force. Most people in the region view the PKK as a Turkish movement, sympathizing with its
struggle in Turkey for Kurdish rights, but condemning its involvement in northern Iraq.
As would be expected, winter has brought a suspension of hostilities, raising the question of what the PKK will
choose to do when the spring comes. The PUK and KDP share control of the territory of a Kurdistan Regional
Government that emerged in the safe haven established by the United States in 1991 after Iraq repressed a Kurdish
uprising. The U.S. and British air forces enforce a no-fly zone for Iraqi aircraft to protect the area.
The Turkish government has developed working relations with the Iraqi Kurds despite its suspicion that an independent
Kurdish state might arise in northern Iraq, destabilizing its own Kurdish area. Russia and Iran, which both
regard Turkeyas a political and strategic rival, support the PKK as a destabilizing element. The PKK runs recruiting
operations in Russia and has been allowed bases in Iran.
72