The New Anatolian

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Sunday 05th of July 2009 04:38:15 AM GMT+2

PKK is fighting back but without Iraqi Kurdish backing

The rapprochement between Ankara and the Iraqi Kurds seems to have clipped the wins of the PKK terrorist organization. The PKK is still trying to show it will prevail but they have to realize that this is now a losing game.

Ilnur Cevik

13 May 2008

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ilnurcevik@yahoo.com

The PKK seems defiant. As soon as the weather started warming up PKK militants were back in action trying to show that they prevail despite Turkish incursions into northern Iraq.

Murat Karayilan, the leader of the PKK terrorists holed up in the mountains of northern Iraq, is trying to create the image that they remain strong and that the Iraqi Kurds are still giving his militants indirect support. He has been claiming that the Iraqi Kurds are trying to mediate between the PKK and Turkish authorities for a new ceasefire…

The Iraqi Kurdish administration denies this and says it will not be part of the conflict between Turkey and the PKK in any form.

It is clear that the PKK leaders are unhappy with the way things are going and they want to create the impression that they are still cooperating closely with the Iraqi Kurdish administration of Massoud Barzani. Thus they want to disrupt the reconciliation process between Ankara and Erbil.

The Barzani administration is aware of all this and has not played in to the hands of the PKK.

A delegation from the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) of Turkey failed to meet regional president Massoud Barzani and prime minister Nechirvan Barzani.

The delegation led by DTP Parliamentary Group Chairman Ahmet Turk met with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani in Suleimania. The delegation has asked for an appointment from Talabani four months ago but had been politely turned down until now because Talabani did not want to create new complications in the already cool relations between Ankara and the Kurds.

However, Talabani did no realize that Ankara would be unhappy with such a meeting even at this time. It seems Talabani's advisors made a mistake to say the least …

The Barzanis realized that just as they were creating a new atmosphere of reconciliation with Ankara it would be wrong to meet a DTP delegation which is so closely identified with the PKK by Turks.

So they told the DTP delegation that they had travel arrangements and could not receive them. But in real fact Barzanis did not want to antagonize Ankara just as things were going well.

Massoud Barzani has been making some positive statements in the past few weeks which have all been noted with satisfaction in Ankara not only by the government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan but also by the military.

The PKK has to realize that this is a losing battle and they should stop the violence and give up arms. If they do not do this today they will be forced to do it tomorrow.

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