By Ilnur Cevik
Turkey is looking more positively to the Kurds but this should not lead anyone to think Ankara approves unlimited autonomy for the Iraqi Kurds
TDN- The Iraqi Kurds are more than interested these days in forging closer relations with Ankara and cooperating more intensively with the Erdogan government. They see that the Americans are not in Iraq forever and even if this was the case they also realize that the U.S. would be prepared to appease the Arab Shiite majority in Iraq at the expense of the Kurds if this served their vital interests.
They also realize that the Shiites are in close contact with Iran and when the chips are down it is clear where Tehran's loyalties in Iraq would lie. They are fully aware that the Arab neighbors of Iraq would not favor them against the Sunni Arabs.
So they are left with Turkey that is a democratic country with a huge population of people of Kurdish origin who are their own relatives. Ankara always acknowledges this and says this is one of the major reasons why Turkey has supported the Iraqi Kurds in their times of great difficulties and will do so also in the future.
Turkey is the main gateway for the Iraqi Kurds and with the current conditions in Iraq will remain so in the future.
So Kurds know well that their destiny is tightly linked to the fate of Turkey and thus feel obliged to create conditions for more brotherly cooperation.
But the Kurds of Iraq just like our citizens of Kurdish origin are very noble people who do not like to be humiliated or pushed around. They do not want to be treated as inferiors. This has been the case in the past as some people in high places in Ankara have made it a habit of antagonizing them and thus ruining Turkey's relations with the Iraqi Kurdish leaders.
But now we have the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government that has set out to change the crooked mentalities of the past and set Turkey on a more realistic course regarding many international issues. The government has taken lessons from past mistakes and has realized it has to approach the demands of the Iraqi Kurds in a realistic manner.
However, it is too early to say Turkey fully backs limited Kurdish self rule let alone broad autonomy that could border on independence. It is also rather premature to declare this openly to the public. But it is true that Turkey feels the Kurds who have created a new haven for themselves in the north with the active support of Turkey are entitled to stability and peace in the north while the rest of Iraq is going up in flames. How this will be done should be left to silent diplomacy.
If an Iraqi Kurdish leader turns to the Turkish government or a member of the powerful military establishment and says: "You rightfully reject living in a religious state run by mullahs and extremists so would you approve of me living in such a state in Iraq?" We have to be prepared to answer them. This is the crucial issue that Turkish leaders have to concentrate on if and when they start charting a policy on Iraq.