BY FERAI TINC
HURRIYET- Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu's recent visit to the Iraqi Kurdistan region had been planned by Ankara for some time, but postponed due to last-minute problems. Finally Davutoglu shook hands with the Iraqi Kurdish administration and made it all right. I understand he was warmly welcomed in Erbil. It seems even Parliament extending the motion permitting cross-border operations for another year more didn't spoil this.
Relations between Iraqi Kurds and Turkey have two dimensions. It's been like this since the 1991 Gulf War. Our relations are sometimes very good, but sometimes they degenerate and both sides make ugly statements about each other. The reason for this is very clear, namely the terrorist PKK's presence in the region.
Relations between Turkey and the Iraqi Kurdistan region have unfortunately been continuing under this shadow. As long as relations are based on the PKK, this situation is unlikely to change, since the PKK isn't an isolated group living in a camp on a mountaintop, but part of the people living in the region. What's more, Massoud Barzani, the leader of the Iraqi Kurdistan region, and Jalal Talabani, the Iraqi president, didn't dominate everything 10 years ago, let alone 20. Recent developments during the elections showed the opposition growing stronger in the region and underlined this. The PKK has also become a player on the Iraqi political stage. Whether we want it or not, it's become a part of the political equation. The parties attached to it were closed in the latest elections, but the PKK supported Barzani.
Considering the last 20 years, and developments since 1991, I believe it would be impossible to establish healthy relations with the Iraqi Kurdistan region with the PKK at the center of things. So what will happen? Can't we put ties with our southern neighbor on a sound basis? Yes, it can be done, but we should stop expecting a solution to the PKK issue from the Iraqi Kurds towards this end.
For example, let's put the energy cooperation in the center of our relations, not the PKK. Let's strengthen the infrastructure for economic cooperation, support the development of relations with non-governmental organizations, and diversify cultural, educational and social projects. Relations between Turkey and the Iraqi Kurdistan region can grow stronger only when this happens. Otherwise our ties will be buffeted by fluctuations in the domestic policies of this region and Turkey. And this will make building mutual confidence very difficult.