Lawmakers call for dialogue to solve PKK problem

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Iraqi parliamentarians have agreed that dialogue between Iraq and Turkey is the best way to resolve the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) problem. A lawmaker highlighted the importance of coordination between the Baghdad and Ankara governments in case the latter decided to launch a military operation, while other parliamentarian accused the Kurdish security forces of giving neighboring countries motives to interfere in Iraq’s affairs. An MP from the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), Abbas al-Bayati, described the Turkish Parliament’s decision to extend the mandate given to the Turkish army to launch a military operation in northern Iraq as “a routine measure,” calling on the Turkish government to coordinate with the Iraqi side in any military operation against the PKK inside the Iraqi territories. “We assert the importance of coordination and cooperation between the Turkish and Iraqi governments regarding any operation to track down the PKK,” al-Bayati said. Turkey’s Parliament last week extended the government’s mandate to order strikes against the PKK in northern Iraq after an attack targeting a police bus in the country’s southeast killed five people. The assault came just days after elements from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) killed 17 soldiers in a daytime attack on a military outpost near the border with Iraq. The motion, which gives the government another year-long authorization for cross-border operations against PKK hideouts in northern Iraq, won backing from all parties in parliament, except the Democratic Society Party, the country’s main Kurdish political movement. He called to activate the trilateral meetings between Iraq, U.S., and Turkey to hunt down PKK fighters. For her part, independent legislator Safiya al-Suhail called for “direct dialogue between Iraq and Turkey instead of using arms.” “Despite my respect of the decisions made, I expected that the Turkish Parliament would discuss the report of the investigation committee on the regions which were shelled by the Turkish army on the border between the two countries,” she told IraqiNews.com. Meanwhile, the head of the Arab bloc for dialogue, Saleh al-Mutlaq, called on all parties concerned to work together to get the PKK out of the Iraqi territories, urging the Turkish side to respect Iraq’s sovereignty. “We reject any operation within Iraqi territory because this could lead to a chaos which could give reasons to other countries to interfere in Iraq’s affairs,” al-Mutlaq, whose bloc holds 19 seats in the Parliament, told IraqiNews.com. Since January, Turkish forces have killed 640 PKK militants, about 400 of them in cross-border operations in northern Iraq, according to army figures. Turkish officials charge that about 2,000 PKK fighters are holed up in the autonomous enclave, where they allegedly enjoy free movement, are tolerated by the region’s Kurdish leaders and obtain weapons and explosives for attacks in Turkey. The PKK, or Partiya Karkeren Kurdistan, is an armed leftist Kurdish political party of nationalist orientations targeting the establishment of a so-called Independent State of Kurdistan. Founded on November 27, 1978 with Abdullah Ocalan, also known as Abo, was appointed as its chairman. The party’s fighters exceeded 10,000 in number during the 1990s. The PKK — considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union — has been fighting for self-rule in the mainly Kurdish southeast and east of Turkey since 1984. The conflict has claimed some 44,000 lives. SH (R)/SR 2