Turkey has good reasons for not interfering in Kobane November 13, 2014 Originally published on In Coversation. As Kurdish city Kobane continues to ignore the Islamic state (-) forces, many experts have condemned Turkey reluctance to help people in the protection units (YPG) to keep forces of evil on the bay. In the dichotomy typical mainstream reporting on the Middle East, the Kurds, one of the regions perennial victims, mostly been qualified as good guys. In YPG and the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) lived up to that image, helping to save the Yezidis trapped on Mount Sinjar. Turkey, at the disposal of NATOs second largest army, was thrown in with the bad guys. This feeling is intensified when the protests in the majority Kurdish areas of Turkey against the inaction of the government as a result of more than 40 deaths. But the bad guy label fair representation of Turkish reluctance to intervene in Kobane? The Turkish government has good reason not retract in the defense against Kobane. That would be a violation of Syrian sovereignty and international law. In addition, YPG-is the military wing of the party Democratic Union (PYD), the dominant faction of the three non-contiguous Kurdish self-declared autonomous region Rojava (Western / Syrian Kurdistan), which is linked to the PKK. This movement, which was conducted by a multi-year guerrilla voynystoimostyu more than 40 000 lives in the pursuit of an independent state at the expense of Turkeys territorial integrity. PKK is now more committed to Kurdish self-determination than separatism. The cease-fire came into effect in March of 2013. PKK and PYD by association, is still on the list of banned terrorist organization by Turkey and much of the West, including in Australia and the USA. Territorial integrity takes the first place in Turkey Turkish sovereignty and, in particular, the territorial integrity, was extremely prickly topic with the First World War. Its not just lead to the dismantling of the Ottoman Empire, which contributed to many of the problems in the region today, but the Allied invasion of Anatolia in Turkey. Kurdish state has been proposed, which would include the vast land, detached from what is today recognized as Turkey. In fact, the war is not ready for Turkey until 1923. The borders of Turkey today is a result of the national resistance led by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Just have in mind the Kurdistan can provoke an angry response, as I have experienced during my trip to Cappadocia in October 2013, when I mentioned working in Iraqi Kurdistan. Kurdish resistance elements of the Islamic state, such as the PKK fought Turkish forces recently. EPA / Sedat Suna Turkey, in fact, asked to risk their soldiers to keep a terrorist organization that is trying to dismember the Turkish state for decades. The government could not sell this wider Turkish public, even if she wanted to. More precisely, it is suitable, Turkey and YPG / PKK is to ascertain not only its two main enemies otherwise occupied, but they weaken each other. Kobane is not a strategic priority If Kobane falls, it will be a blow to the prestige of the PKK. The Turkish government hopes that the PKK threat to end the peace process if Kobane falls is a bluff; Kurds are too weak to fight, as is Turkey immediately. The Turks do not want no help. The country receives about 1.5 million. Refugees, including about 200 000 of Kobane area. Given Australia reaction of asylum seekers, and pathetic figures are taken in Turkey in NATO, it is a bit rich to criticize Turkey as useless. While resistance to Kobane was impressive and the political organization of Rojava - regional, unique in terms of its inclusion of women and minorities, US Secretary of State John Kerry declaration that Kobane no strategic value - apt. Hard on the Turkish border, Kobane otherwise have surrounded forces. Senior members of the ruling Turkish Justice and Development Party, note the vast majority of those who remained in the city-fighters and others who chose to remain. Under what conditions can interfere with Turkey? Turkey does not exclude the intervention, but it has a list of conditions. Turkey demands a renewed focus on the overthrow of the Assad regime, which entails the resumption of training seemingly mythical moderates Free Syrian Army (FSA). Turkey emphasizes that everything that happens in Kobane pales in comparison to the bloodshed continues in Syria. This three and a half years of conflict cost more than 200,000 lives. Turkey also requires a buffer zone in Syria to protect Turkey from retaliation he should intervene. Turkish-Syrian border is about 900 kilometers, porous and hard to defend. Also, it is unclear under what conditions Turkey secured the release of consular staff conducted after the seizure of the Iraqi city of Mosul, in June of this year. It is true that in Turkey, until recently, little was done to stop foreign fighters entering Syria to fight the Assad regime. Before the influence of Islamist radicals, however, maintaining the anti-Assad rebels was a de facto policy of many countries in the region, the Obama administration and other Western countries. It was not until the Islamist monster created the infamous Dr. Frankensteins of the region fled that this policy began to shift. Finally, Turkey is demanding that the PYD abandon its territorial ambitions. Unsurprisingly, PYD refuses to do so in light of its strong position in the other two breakaway autonomies Rojava. On the PYD was charged in collaboration with the Assad regime, the Syrian army withdrew from the Kurdish areas without a fight, but officials later were on hand to help with the Yezidis saved from Sinjar - and Turkey is not going to allow others to be installed PKK haven along its borders. Mass protests in Turkey continues to demand help for Kurdish militants, protecting against Kobane. AAP / Ekrem Koray Berkin The Kurds are not a unified force PKK is already working in the Kandil Mountains in the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) within Iraq. There is, however, no love lost between the dominant party PKK - the Kurdish Democratic Party and the PKK, as they vie for leadership wider Kurdish national movement. PKK, even in the past, allowed the Turkish army in the autonomous region to conduct operations against the PKK. While traveling in the mountains not far from Turkey, I was surprised to drive past the Turkish military bases on Iraqi soil, before being shown to the valley of the Turkish bombs abandoned years earlier. PKK, also refused to recognize the autonomous cantons Rojava. PKK, said he dug a pit along the AWG-Syrian border is kept, but the Syrian Kurds consider it as a betrayal to support them. In short, the PKK, is often seen as a lackey and Turkish Kurdish political unity is a myth. This explains why Turkey has agreed to help translate the Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga and the FSA reinforcements in defense Kobane. Only 150 Peshmerga fighters and 50 were admitted FSA Kobane. Despite the apparent agreement of the unity of the recently signed KRG and PYD, sees a large influx of Turkish-promote these fighters as a means of weakening PYD, and therefore the PKK influence Rojava. On the PYD, thereby renounced many more originally advertised. Considering all these factors, it is not surprising that Turkey refuses to interfere with boots on the ground. Other American edge coalition whose members have not volunteered to do much more than engage in what often is a difficult and extremely expensive way to destroy empty buildings. On the PYD-YPG resistance is a testament to their courage, but also the Western public fleeting emotional investment in Kobane not going to spend a magic switch in the collective consciousness of the Turkish majority after decades of separatist conflict. AUTHOR Tristan Reminders
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 06:10:00 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015