BY SEMIH IDIZ
AKSAM- The US isn’t sensitive about the Turkmen in Iraq. Moreover, the US is viewing the Turkmen as an impediment. The origin of the Turkmen crisis between Ankara and Washington is the motion on US troops [on the eve of US invasion, Parliament rejected the US using Turkey as a staging ground for a northern offensive]. Washington understands the thrust of Chief of General Staff Gen Hilmi Ozkok’s statements, ‘the US is stuck in an Iraqi swamp, it’s good Turkey isn’t involved in this business,’ as that it deserves this quagmire, and this has led to an unpleasant atmosphere.
In short Turkey is angry about the US, and the US is angry about Turkey, but they express this only through indirect words or actions because of their ‘strategic relationship.’ It’s also understood that nobody will let the strained relations reach a boiling point thanks to this ‘strategic relationship.’ Therefore the Turkmen shouldn’t get their hopes up. It’s a sad truth, but they are a minority in a weak political position.
Some people think that a census in Iraq would show the truth about the ‘Turkmen.’ However one shouldn’t forget that the Turkmen have always lost the game of demography, which began with the Arab-British cooperation of 1916 and is continuing with the Kurds and Arabs.
The most important reason for their losses is that they were seen as Ankara’s ‘stand-in’ in the region. According to the US and Britain, the Turkish military is cooperating in the region with Turkmen against the Kurds in order to win military gains.
This claim is still put forward even while Ankara rejects it. We see that Turkish-US military cooperation and the interests of the Turkmen will suffer as long as the Iraq crisis continues. Nor will the US forget the motion being rejected. If Ankara brings up issues like Tal Afar or Kirkuk then the US says: ‘Considering how many issues in Iraq you’re sensitive about, then why didn’t you tell your deputies this so that they would take a strategic view of the issue? The National Security Council [NSC] should have made this clear. But instead you were focused on domestic issues and missed the big picture.’
Only history can tell who saw such events clearly. However today we see Turkey unable to protect the Turkmen’s interests. What they can actually do is limited. For example, could Turkey close the border gate at Habur? No, because other sad truths supercede the Turkmen truth.