BY YILMAZ OZTUNA
TURKIYE- The terrorist PKK was behind last week's deadly bombing in Ankara's Ulus shopping district, but this time I think that it was an indirect party to the attack. It seems certain that it was (northern Iraqi Kurdish region leader) Massoud Barzani who gave the order. I don't know if there is someone behind him.
Who is Barzani? He is one of the two leaders of the Kurdish autonomous region in northern Iraq. He determinedly advocates Kurdish union, and his aim is an independent Kurdistan.
The biggest obstacle to a state of 'Kurdistan' is Turkey. In March 2003, when Turkey's Parliament rejected a motion for Turkish troops to go into Iraq for the Iraq war, both Barzani and Talabani said that this would help the foundation of a Kurdish state.
US support is needed in order to establish such a state, otherwise it will never happen. The US is Turkey's ally. Although its desire to be a strategic ally hasn't gotten a positive response, the alliance is continuing. Since 1952, Turkey has had the second-largest armed forces in NATO, following the US.
Barzani's most important hope is that Turkish and US soldiers come to loggerheads and take up arms against each other. Then Kurdistan's independence will be certain. If this happen, the world's balance will shift. If there is a rift within NATO, all of the world's balances will change. No country in the world, including Turkey, could benefit from coming at odds with a superpower like the US. Stressing this is a requirement of modern nationalism.
Turkey wouldn't benefit from shifting balances. Even if it spends $100 billion to cross into Iraq, this would be wasted effort. It's clear that the terrorist PKK would leave northern Iraq and fade away before our army even enters the country.
Then we'd face protests from the entire world. No state would support Turkey's Iraq operation. Let's do everything to combat the PKK in Turkey. War is a disaster and should be considered only as a last resort.