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

Revue de Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Sta';'pa-Dentro de la Prensa-Basm Özeti
THE PEACEKEEPERS
Iraqi Kurds Are Wary
Of a Turkish-Led Force
By C.J. cmVERS
KOYA, Iraq, Feb. 20 - The guards
.at the walled compound here, in their
blue berets and polished armored
cars, are striking with their professional
Illilitary air. Their uniforms
are pressed.' Their weapons look
new. Their frames
and fit.
are mostly lean
.
They are members of the Peace
Monitoring Force, a Turkish-led contingent
that has been enforcing a
cease-fire between rival Kurdish
parties in,northern Iraq since 1997.
The force has had many successes.
The peacekeepers say they have never
suffered an injury or been attacked.
The Kurdish parties have
stopped fighting, and after an adjournment
of several years the joint
Kurdish parliament began meeting
again last fall.
But it is also a measure of the
persistent distrust between Iraqi
Kurds and their Turkish neighbors
that these men in blue beret~ are
shrouded in deep suspicion these
days.
As the possibility of another war
nears, this one a campaign to unseat
President Saddam Hussein, several
accusations can be heard. Kurdish
political leaders accuse the peacekeepers
of training ethnic Turkmen
militias, of preparing to assist a
Turkish incursion, and of spying.
A war against Mr. Hussein is likely
to involve a northern front opening .
.from Turkey, and Turkish troops will
perhaps follow American soldiers at
least part way into p.orthern Ir~q.
The Kurdish officials say they worry
that the peacekeepers may play an
.unexpected role, like guiding Turkish
soldiers or providing logistics, military
or intelligence support.
Whether such fears ultimately
prove' justified, Kurdish leaders of
parties that once fought eàch other,
the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and
the Kurdistan Democratic Party, are
asking that the peacekeepers' pres-
.ence be reassessed.
"Now that there. is no problem
between the P.U.K. and K.D.P., we
think their mission is over, and we
would welcome them ~ go back,"
said Massoud Barzani, president of .
the Kurdistan Democratic Party.
Dr. Barham Salih, prime minister
of the eastern Kurdish zone, controlled
by the rival Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan, also expressed concerns
about the Peace Monitoring Force's'
mission. "With the closure of the
peace process," he said, "the P.M.F.
will no longer be required."
The peacekeepers themselves de-
.scribe the Kurdish accusations as
baseless - the stuff of a "comic
strip," one of their officers said.
"We will keep to our mission,"
said Capt. 'Mehmet Emir, a Turkish
company commander. "We are a
peace mission. We will stay to that."
The peacekeepers, 400 strong, began
full deployment as British and
American diplomats mediated an
end to a civil war that had killed an
.:estimated 2,500 to 3,000 people. .
: They were to patrol the ground
between the parties' militias, report-
ing violations of cease-fire agree- .
ments and making a restrained display
of international will.
The force's formation represent~
a compromise. Although the peacekeepers
are led by TUrkish officers .
and sergeants, the rank and file is
filled with local Turkmen and Assyrians,
forming what former President
Bill Clinton once described as a
"neutral, indigenous" force. Washington
underwrites part of its work.
Although the effort. has shown
signs of solidifying - for example,
the former combatants recently
opened political offices in their respective
capitals - the peacekeepers
say their role remains vital.
"I wish for the two parties to agree
and settle their differences, but I
think it is their habit to be in conflict
between themselves, and maybe in a .
year or so, they will get into disagreement
again," Captain Emir
said.
Many issues remain unsettled, including
how to divide income from
petroleum products smuggled into
Turkey, territOrial boundaries, and a
few lingering personal feuds.
Kurds say the peacekeepers want
to stay because they have unseen
agendas. A chief complaint is that
the force, roughly 85 percent Turk-
Chang W. Lee/The New York Times
Soldiers with the Peace Monitoring Force in northern Iraq, training near
Koya, have successfully enforced a cease-fire between warring factions.
Kurdish factions are suspicious of
peace m9nitors, based in Koya.
Time to reassess
the peace mission,
someKuids say.
men, serves as a de facto training
program for Turkmen 'militias.
For example, the force's personnel
policies include rio enlistment contract,
and fighters can leave any
time, the peacekeepers say. About 10
fighters do so each month, and they
are replac~ by recruits who receive
a month of training and then typically
a year or two of .professional,
-,
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