Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)
March 2 2005
Turkey’s Bad Export, Damaged Good: The ITF
/noticias.info/ Adil Al-Baghdadi
Brussels
It is necessary, at various stages, to re-examine and analyze the
principles, policies and tactics of a political party or movement and
to consolidate and refresh the ideas of basic cadres and its leaders.
But this only holds true if the political party in question is a
genuine, bona fide, and most importantly independent entity.
In the light of the very poor showing at the polls – some might even
say heavy defeat – by the Turkey’s front, the Iraqi Turkoman Front,
ITF, and the shock this has caused to its members after seeing how
unpopular their front is among Turkoman electorates, this seems to be
a suitable time to re-examine some of its basic conceptions and
misconception, regarding its position within Iraq and South
Kurdistan.
To the real Turkoman voters, or those who have not voted and other
Turkoman groups, the problem is posed in the simplest terms: the
policy pursued by Turkey’s proxy have betrayed the Turkomans,
therefore an independent new party free of Turkish influence must be
immediately built on ashes of the front.
Turkey and its front did not take into account the historical
development and momentum which post-Saddam era has ushered in South
Kurdistan and Iraq as a whole.
Without flexible tactics it is impossible to win or gain the trust of
Turkoman community who understand well the suffering of the Kurds and
the real history of Kirkuk, a city that has always been part of
Kurdistan region.
Then again, wooing Turkoman votes can’t be attained by waging a hate
campaign, incitement to violence against Kurds and by recruiting the
service of every self-serving racist Arab and Turkish writers or
indeed by importing Turkey’s unique product, Kurdophobia.
Turkey’s ready made export package of hate and racism towards
non-Turkic ethnic groups, which was enthusiastically exported and
successfully adopted in Azerbaijan[2], has failed to produce same
result among patriotic Turkomans.
The century old racist practice by Turkey against Kurds in North
Kurdistan and Armenians, which still gripping Turkish establishments
and civil institutions, and sadly academic circles, has been despised
by the Turkoman community who lived in solidarity with Kurds for
centuries.
The self-declared custodian of the rights of Turkomans in South
Kurdistan imposed itself on the true will of Turkomans and did not
proceed in a straight line or had a clear objective other than
permeating MIT[3] sole wish and desire that is to hamper the orderly
and natural process of Kurds mastering their own destiny.
Indeed, the lack of vision and tact by members of Turkey’s front, who
seem to be quite conversant with reciting anti-Kurdish Ba’thist
slogans than making a single campaign pledge, has done little in
serving the real interests of the Turkoman community.
Thus, the degeneration of the front and the subsequent disloyalty of
Turkomans to Turkey’s ill designs had as its consequence that the
anti-Kurds elements disorientated.
Perhaps this was the reason behind one of other interfering Turkish
directive to its fallen comrades which was to join the Shiite
Alliance in the hope to salvage and repair its damaged good.
However, the victory of Kurdistan Alliance list in Iraq and
Brotherhood list in Kirkuk and the failure of Turkey and its front to
learn the lessons of the tumultuous events in Iraq and Kurdistan
marked the end of this bad Turkish export.
The sudden false rise and quick demise of Turkey’s front in Iraq is a
window of opportunity for the Turkomans to join the real democratic
political process along with original Arabs and Kurds in Kirkuk, in
order work together to achieve their rights within the federalist
state of South Kurdistan.
1. Musa Antar, was assassinated by Turkish secret service in Amed,
North Kurdistan 1992 as part of Turkey’s the then clandestine
campaign to wipe out Kurdish intelligentsia.
2. In a few months leading to the liberation of Iraq and while the
world was gripped by news about the war, Azerbaijan, acting on
Turkish advice, arrested and put in prison hundreds of Kurds
including men, women and children, who were earlier expelled from
Armenia because they were Muslims, on unfounded pretext of being
members of the PKK.
3. MIT, a Turkish acronym stands for Millet Istihbarat Teskilati,
which in fact is made of three Arabic words, literally means: The
Association of People’s Intelligence.
Articles published here do not necessarily reflect views of Kurdistan
Regional Government.