Topic: voa Subject: TURKEY'S KURDISH ADVENTURE by ANDREW N. GUTHRIE/WASHINGTON From: Yanni@ix.netcom.com (Ioannis Bousnakis) Topic: voa DATE=4/6/95 TYPE=U-S OPINION ROUNDUP NUMBER=6-08921 TITLE=TURKEY'S KURDISH ADVENTURE BYLINE=ANDREW N. GUTHRIE TELEPHONE=619-3335 DATELINE=WASHINGTON EDITOR=PHIL HAYNES CONTENT= INTRO: TURKEY'S FOREIGN MINISTER ERDAL INONU CONTINUES HIS VISIT TO WASHINGTON AND SEVERAL OTHER WESTERN CAPITOLS TO EXPLAIN THE TURKISH MILITARY INVASION OF NORTHERN IRAQ TO DESTROY THE BASES OF KURDISH GUERRILLAS. SO FAR, WHILE THE UNITED STATES SUPPORTS THE INTERVENTION, MANY WESTERN ALLIES ARE HIGHLY CRITICAL AND WANT THE TURKISH TROOPS TO PULL OUT. AS WE HEAR NOW FROM _______________ IN TODAY'S U-S OPINION ROUNDUP, THAT IS ALSO THE POSITION OF SEVERAL AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS. TEXT: TURKEY SENT AT LEAST 35-THOUSAND ARMORED TROOPS, SUPPORTED BY THE TURKISH AIR FORCE, INTO NORTHERN IRAQ ON MARCH 20TH TO DESTROY GUERRILLA CAMPS OF THE OUTLAWED KURDISTAN WORKERS PARTY, KNOWN BY ITS INITIALS THE P-K-K. WORLD REACTION WAS GENERALLY UNFAVORABLE, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE UNITED STATES, WHICH HAS REMAINED GENERALLY SUPPORTIVE OF THE INVASION. TURKEY'S FOREIGN MINISTER INONU MET WITH U-S OFFICIALS IN WASHINGTON TODAY BUT REFUSED TO GIVE THE AMERICANS A DATE BY WHICH THE INVASION FORCE WILL WITHDRAW. A U-S OFFICIAL EXPRESSED DISAPPOINTMENT ABOUT THAT. MR. INONU FLIES TO PARIS FRIDAY FOR TALKS WITH FRENCH GOVERNMENT LEADERS. MEANWHILE, THE U-S PRESS HAS BEGUN TO CALL EVEN LOUDER FOR TURKISH FORCES TO WITHDRAW. WE BEGIN OUR SAMPLING WITH THIS FROM "THE BOSTON GLOBE." VOICE: "IN A TIME DEFILED BY BARBARIC PERSECUTION OF ETHNIC GROUPS, NO STATELESS PEOPLE HAS SUFFERED MORE CRUELTY AT THE HANDS OF ESTABLISHED STATES THAN THE KURDS. THE CURRENT ASSAULT BY ... TURKISH TROOPS AGAINST KURDS FROM TURKEY WHO HAVE SOUGHT SHELTER IN NORTHERN IRAQ EMBARRASSES WESTERN DEMOCRACIES BECAUSE OF ITS LETHALITY AND ITS DUBIOUS RELIANCE ON THE RIGHT OF HOT PURSUIT. ... [PRESIDENT] CLINTON SHOULD DEMAND A RAPID TURKISH WITHDRAWAL AND THE DISPATCH OF U-N HUMAN RIGHTS MONITORS TO NORTHERN IRAQ...." TEXT: IN MAINE, "THE PORTLAND PRESS HERALD" WONDERS WHY IT IS WRONG FOR IRAQ TO PERSECUTE THE KURDS, BUT APPARENTLY ALL RIGHT FOR TURKEY TO DO SO. VOICE: "PRESIDENT CLINTON ... HAS RAILED AGAINST SADDAM HUSSEIN'S PERSECUTION OF THE KURDS IN IRAQ, AND PROPERLY SO. HE RAISED NO OBJECTION, HOWEVER, TO TURKISH TANKS AND TROOPS ROLLING ACROSS THE IRAQI BORDER IN PURSUIT OF KURDS ON MARCH 20TH. FORTUNATELY, NOT EVERY GOVERNMENT IS TAKING SO SANGUINE A VIEW OF WHAT IS GOING ON INSIDE THE KURDS' 'SAFE HAVEN' TODAY. ..... IT WILL TAKE A CONCERTED INTERNATIONAL EFFORT NOW TO EVER GET TURKEY OUT OF IRAQ. JUST AS TURKEY INVADED CYPRUS IN 1974 AND NEVER LEFT, SO IT WILL STAY IN NORTHERN IRAQ UNLESS IT IS FORCED OUT. THE LONG-SUFFERING KURDS MERELY WILL HAVE SEEN ONE AGGRESSOR REPLACED BY ANOTHER." TEXT: IN THE SOUTH, "THE ATLANTA CONSTITUTION" STATES ITS VIEW UNEQUIVOCALLY, BUT SUGGESTS THE FINAL SOLUTION WILL BE VERY DIFFICULT. VOICE: "TURKEY SHOULD WITHDRAW ITS TROOPS FROM KURDISH TERRITORY IN NORTHERN IRAQ WITHOUT FURTHER DELAY. THAT OUGHT TO BE THE MESSAGE SECRETARY OF STATE WARREN CHRISTOPHER CONVEYS, UNEQUIVOCALLY AND PUBLICLY, TO VISITING TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER ERDAL INONU.... THE KURDISH PROBLEM IS A TICKLISH ONE FOR WASHINGTON AND OTHER CAPITALS. AT 20-MILLION STRONG, THE KURDS ARE ONE OF THE WORLD'S LARGEST ETHNIC GROUPS WITHOUT A NATION TO CALL THEIR OWN. YET CARVING A HOMELAND FROM THE COUNTRIES THEY INHABIT -- TURKEY, IRAQ, SYRIA, ARMENIA AND IRAN -- MIGHT EASILY PROVOKE MORE DISORDER AND BLOODSHED THAN IT WOULD STOP. [OPT] IN THE LONG RUN, THE WISEST AND BEST HELP THE UNITED STATES CAN OFFER THE KURDS IS TO INSIST THAT THEIR BASIC RIGHTS AND DISTINCTIVENESS ARE RESPECTED AND PROTECTED BY THE REGIMES THAT GOVERN THEM. [END OPT] TEXT: THE INFLUENTIAL "NEW YORK TIMES" SUGGESTS THAT, IRONICALLY, TURKEY'S LATEST MOVE TO CRUSH THE SEPARATIST KURDS MAY BE HAVING THE EXACT OPPOSITE EFFECT, OF TURNING KURDISH MODERATES INTO REBELS. VOICE: "ANKARA HOPES TO CRUSH A KURDISH REVOLT THAT HAS RAGED IN TURKEY FOR MORE THAN A DECADE AND TAKEN MORE THAN 15-THOUSAND LIVES. BUT ITS RELIANCE ON MILITARY REPRESSION HAS DRIVEN KURDISH CIVILIANS INTO THE ARMS OF SEPARATIST MILITANTS AND UNITED KURDISH POLITICAL LEADERS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BORDER. .....THE KURDISH ISSUE IS THE KIND OF DIFFICULT, VOLATILE PROBLEM THAT NO ONE IN WASHINGTON HAS YET FIGURED OUT HOW TO DEAL WITH IN THE ABSENCE OF CLEARLY DEFINED SUPERPOWER INTERESTS. BUT IF NOT QUICKLY RESOLVED, IT COULD EVENTUALLY BECOME ANOTHER EXAMPLE, LIKE BOSNIA, OF NATIONAL, ETHNIC AND REGIONAL TENSIONS FLARING OUT OF CONTROL. WHAT AMERICA CAN DO IS INSIST THAT TURKEY NOT MAKE A BAD SITUATION WORSE. ANKARA MUST SWIFTLY WITHDRAW ITS FORCES FROM IRAQI SOIL." TEXT: AND LASTLY, "THE WASHINGTON POST" AFTER EXAMINING TURKEY'S OPTIONS IN THE CURRENT SITUATION, OFFERS THIS ADVICE AS THEY BEST WAY OUT: VOICE: "STOP TREATING THE KURDS AS BEING FIRST AND FOREMOST A MILITARY THREAT TO THE INTEGRITY OF TURKEY. THEY ARE A MILITARY THREAT, BUT THIS IS FAR FROM THE WHOLE IF IT. INSTEAD, TREAT THE KURDS AS A PROBLEM OF A BASICALLY POLITICAL CAST -- THE ACCOMMODATION OF A LARGE MINORITY (20 PERCENT OF TURKEY'S POPULATION OF 60 MILLION) WHOSE COUSINS ARE DISPERSED THROUGH NEIGHBORING IRAQ, IRAN AND SYRIA. AR THERE TO FEW 'MODERATE' KURDS -- FAVORING AUTONOMY RATHER THAN INDEPENDENCE, DEMOCRACY RATHER THAN EXTREMISM -- TO HELP MAKE A MODERATE TURKISH POLICY WORK? THERE ARE MANY SUCH PEOPLE. [OPT] IS THE TURKISH MILITARY SIMPLY TOO STRONG TO ALLOW THE POLITICIANS TO MOVE IN THIS DIRECTION? THAT'S NOT YET FINALLY DEMONSTRATED. ARE THE POLITICS OF THE REGION TOO STRAINED TO PERMIT A COORDINATED INTERNATIONAL APPROACH TO THE KURDS? THEN TURKEY COULD START BY FOCUSING ON ITS OWN SHARE OF THE PROBLEM. IN THIS WAY IT COULD GIVE ITSELF A CHANCE -- WHERE IT SEEMS TO HAVE LITTLE NOW -- TO EASE A CRISIS THAT OTHERWISE THREATENS TO GET ENTIRELY OUT OF HAND." [END OPT] TEXT: WITH THOSE SUGGESTIONS FROM THE "WASHINGTON POST", WE CONCLUDE THIS BRIEF SAMPLING OF U-S EDITORIAL REACTION TO THE CONTINUING TURKISH MILITARY OPERATIONS AGAINST KURDISH GUERRILLAS IN NORTHERN IRAQ. NEB/ANG/PCH 06-Apr-95 12:39 PM EDT (1639 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America