Iran Cautious of Turkey's Kurdish Approach

 

Iran Cautious of Turkey's Kurdish Approach

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/politics/2013/03/iran-cautious-turkey-kurds.html

 

By: Bayram Sinkaya Translated from ORSAM (Turkey).

            ORİJİNAL YAZIYI TÜRKÇE OKUYABİLİRSİNİZ

 

For some time Turkey has been searching for ways to solve its Kurdish issue

under the label of "the solution process." Despite the optimism generated by

this label, both the government and the Peace and Democracy Party [BDP]

(along with other elements of parliament's Kurdish wing) have shown

prudence. One reason for this cautious optimism is Ankara's concern that

power brokers who do not want Turkey to solve this issue might sabotage the

process. Many insist that no country in the region, or anywhere in the world

for that matter, would like to see Turkey prosper after solving the Kurdish

issue. Turkey's most frequently mentioned adversary is Iran.

 

For a while now it has been alleged that Iran is in alliance against Turkey

with the PKK [Kurdistan Workers Party] - or at least with PKK leaders such

as Cemil Bayik, who is said to be close to Iran. We remember how many listed

Iran among the possible culprits of the Paris murders. Is Iran really

against Turkey resolving the Kurdish issue?

 

The first theory is a classic one, and posits that solving the Kurdish issue

will empower Turkey. Therefore Iran, which sees Turkey as a regional rival,

would not want it to gain more power by resolving the Kurdish issue.

 

But wouldn't a strong and prosperous neighbor that has solved this problem

contribute positively to Iran as well? Isn't that why Iran backed Turkey's

accession to the EU and its democratic openings? Stability, economic growth

and peace in Turkey's east would certainly be felt in Iran's restive

northwest, which has been living through similar problems for many years.

 

Another theory is that if Turkey makes progress in solving the Kurdish issue

through democratic means, it might put the authoritarian Iranian government

- which also has a significant Kurdish population - in a tough spot. Iranian

Kurds who see Turkish Kurds making gains might well exert pressure to

achieve the same rights. This is why Iran would not want Turkey to solve the

Kurdish issue through democratic means, it is claimed. While there may well

be some truth to this claim, one has to admit that Iran's Kurdish issue and

the phase it has come to differ from what Turkey has experienced. For

example, Iran supported the demands of Kurds in northern Iraq to form a

federation, immediately recognized the Kurdistan Regional Government [KRG]

without hesitation and quickly developed relations with the region.

 

Perhaps Iranian leaders won't be uncomfortable with Turkey solving its

Kurdish issue but will rather worry about the Turkish approach to a

solution. The "solution process" now means the withdrawal of about 4,000 PKK

militants from Turkey. Where will these militants go with their guns?

Northern Iraq, Iran and Syria are the places that first come to mind.

 

Another question that has to be answered is what these militants will be

doing after they leave Turkey. Will they sit on a mountaintop waiting for

the process to be completed? Certainly not. A PKK that suspends its

operations in Turkey is most likely to support the armed struggle of the

Iranian Kurds and fight against Iran, or to go to Syria to boost and

consolidate the gains of the Kurdish people there.

 

The PKK fighters' withdrawal from Turkey with their guns will gain time for

Turkey in the solution process. But Iranian officials have serious fears

that the PKK will join with the Iranian Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan

(PJAK) to focus on the struggle against Iran. Those fears may explain the

recent wave of arrests of Iranian Kurdish politicians. It is reported that

this wave of attacks is the most comprehensive since 2008. The fact that

these arrests have come at the same time as the solution process in Turkey

cannot be a coincidence.

 

In a nutshell, the solution process linked to the PKK'S withdrawal from

Turkey is disturbing Iran. This is not because of Iran's concern with

democratization or the empowerment of Turkey, but because of its worry that

the PKK fire could ignite its territory.

 

Read more:

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/politics/2013/03/iran-cautious-turkey-kurds.

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