Arbil closer to İstanbul than Baghdad

Şahin Alpay
Şahin Alpay


Date posted: December 17, 2012

ŞAHİN ALPAY

My first visit to the Kurdistan region of Iraq took place a year ago, on the invitation of the University of Duhok, to participate in an international conference on the Middle East in the wake of the Arab Awakenings.

Last week I was once more in the region, this time upon an invitation to talk at a panel discussion on the political economy of Turkey by Ishik University (one of the many educational institutions established in Iraq by the faith-based social movement inspired by religious scholar Fethullah Gülen) in the capital city of Arbil (Hawler).

On both visits I could not but sense the striking contrast between the general mood in Turkey’s and Iraq’s Kurdistan. While Turkey’s Kurds seem to be growingly alienated from Ankara, due to the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government’s reluctance to move forward with reforms to meet the common democratic demands of the Kurds, Iraq’s Kurds seem to be increasingly attracted to İstanbul, if not Ankara. While Iraqi Arabs travel to Arbil and Sulaimaniya to breathe freely, an increasing number of Iraqi Kurds are visiting İstanbul to refresh.

Kurdish nationalism is on the rise. The conditions and preferences of the Kurds are, however, highly varied depending on the country they are citizens of. Turkey is distinguished by the fact that the majority of its Kurds live in the western, Turkish-majority regions of the country, and broadening democracy during the last decade has rendered for most of them the armed insurgency by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) senseless. This is why separatists among Turkey’s Kurds are highly marginal. This is why the PKK has suggested to Jalal Talabani, the Kurdish president of Iraq, that it would be prepared not only to silence but lay down its arms if Turkey in its Constitution would recognize the Kurdish identity and proclaim a general amnesty for its militants. That is why Iraqi Kurdish leaders, both Massoud Barzani and Talabani, say they favor establishing the closest possible relationship with Turkey. In Iraqi Kurdistan one gets the feeling that one needs to be blinded by rabid nationalism to not see the common destiny of Turks and Kurds.

There is no doubt that one of the most successful results of the “zero problems with neighbors” policy pursued by the AKP government is the growing political, economic and cultural rapprochement between Ankara and Arbil. During our visit to Iraqi Kurdistan last week we had the opportunity to contact high-ranking representatives of all the major parties in the region. They were unified in their wish and expectancy that Ankara meet the democratic demands of its Kurds, and peace is established between the two peoples in Turkey. When this is accomplished, Turkey will win the respect and allegiance of Kurds everywhere, and Kurdish nationalism will cease to be a threat to Turkey’s territorial integrity.

If the PKK uprising is the major obstacle to Turkish-Kurdish rapprochement today, its greatest assurance is the growing economic interdependence between Turkey and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) of Iraq. Iraq today is Turkey’s top trade partner, while the KRG is responsible for up to 70 percent of that trade. Turkey is greatly in need of the KRG’s oil and gas, while the latter needs Turkish know-how and investments if it is going to avoid the oil curse.

The Western press reported last week that Ankara is negotiating a comprehensive agreement with Arbil since the beginning of this year, according to which a Turkish company backed by the government will drill and extract oil and gas in the KRG, and build pipelines for transportation to Turkish and European markets. Nechirvan Barzani, the prime minister of the KRG, has confirmed the talks, while Washington seems to be unhappy by the initiative it fears will bolster the KRG’s autonomy and lead Baghdad to move closer to Tehran. (The Washington Post, Dec. 12, 2012)

It is interesting to note that until a few years ago Ankara stood closer to Baghdad than to Arbil for the sake of preserving Iraq’s (and consequently Turkey’s) territorial integrity, but it nowadays seems to have reversed its approach due to growing political, economic and cultural reasons.

Source: Today’s Zaman December 16, 2012


Related News

Kimse Yok Mu caring for Kyrgyz orphans

Kimse Yok Mu Foundation extended yet another helping hand to the orphan in Kyrgyzstan. The foundation received a group of them for an exclusive ceremony at the Ataturk-Alatoo University in the capital city Bishkek. The orphans were served dinner first and then watched the university students’ shows in their honor.

Turkish Schools in Afghanistan organized the eighth annual science competition

Turkish schools in Afghanistan organized a Science Project Competition with in cooperation with TIKA, Turkish Collaboration and Coordination Agency, a state organization. Afghan-Turkish Schools were opened in 1995 and the competition has been organized 8 times organized since 2004. The awards ceremony was held at the Afghan-Turkish School for Girls in Kabul. Yilmaz Aytan, the vice chairman […]

Pak-Turk schools case: IHC grants more time to seek govt’s instructions

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday granted the Deputy Attorney General (DAG) three weeks to seek instructions from the ministry of interior and the ministry of foreign affairs after the Pak-Turk Education Foundation moved the IHC against the possible closure of its school network by the government.

Religious leaders pray for world peace at meeting of civilizations

Religious leaders prayed for world peace at an event deemed the meeting of civilizations and organized by the Antakya Intercultural Dialogue Association (AKADİM) and Turkish aid organization Kimse Yok Mu in the province of Hatay

Gulen Movement Educates Kurds, and not Everyone Is Happy

Nicolas Birch,  Turkey There is a studious silence in the basement floor of the Rose Pink Women’s Education and Mutual Aid Association in Diyarbakir, the largest city in Turkey’s mainly Kurdish southeast. In three classrooms, 70 12-year-old girls are hard at work studying for exams that will decide their secondary school future. Wearing headscarves that […]

Kimse Yok Mu extends a helping hand to thousands of Guineans

The Guinean minister for social action, women and children Sanaba Kaba was also present in the aid distribution event.

Latest News

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

University refuses admission to woman jailed over Gülen links

In Case You Missed It

New book examines efforts to link Gülen to every probe

Nigerien Minister of Education at Kimse Yok Mu

NPR’s Interview with Gulen – He Denies Involvement In Coup Attempt

Ban Ki-moon (UN Secretary General) sent a message to IFLC

TUSKON key in trade with Turkey, top Russian group says

Turkish ruling party’s targeting of the Gülen movement constitutes a crime against humanity

Turkish Deputy PM rules out ‘ill will’ against Gülen community, unveils prep school draft details

Copyright 2023 Hizmet News