HURRIYET- Columnist Freai Tinc writes on the Iraqi problem and the role of that country's Turkmens. A summary of her column is as follows:
News about Iraq reminds me of my visit three months ago to the cities of Baghdad and Kerkuk,. I remember Iraqis who cannot live any other way but by molding their own ideas into forms Saddam has shaped and keeping their own feelings to themselves. There are those who don't have anything besides the salary the state is giving them. Today decisions are being made regarding their future and plans are being made for a possible occupation. They are cut off from the whole world without any television to watch or radio to listen to. They are waiting the approaching disaster. Religion is the only refuge for them. At the end of the week, the opposition to Saddam has decided on a 'Democratic Iraq.' They would prefer Saddam to be overthrown without resorting to any operation from land or air. Recently, the opposition movements centered around former officers have grown. Can they topple Saddam? It is not possible to incite the Iraqi people to rebel through instructions from abroad. News reaching us says that 33 people were executed by shooting. They were shot while trying to escape a raid on a mosque. When rumors about a coup began to circulate, Saddam's intelligence units and security forces began a 'cleansing' movement in the Gulf area inhabited by Shiite Arabs. Washington Representative of the Iraqi Turkmen Front Orhan Ketene was in Turkey for a brief visit. He says that there has been a rapid growth of opposition movements outside Iraq. But the situation inside Iraq is rather different. It is unnatural to expect an uprising from a people living in a country where five different intelligence agencies affiliated with Saddam and under the supervision of one another operate, and where two different armed forces such as the army and the Revolutionary Guard are present. Ketene is claiming that a revolution within Iraq is very difficult. According to US plans, opposition is necessary for the post-Saddam era. The strongest of these movements is among the Kurds as they are armed. Kurds form the opposition group Washington depends on the most. Regarding Washington's approach towards the Iraqi Turkmens, Ketene said, 'For a very long time they didn't take us into consideration. They were claiming that our number was too few and that we didn't have the necessary weapons. We were not invited to meetings Kurds participated in. However, recently there has been a change as we are making ourselves known and voicing our demands. They have begun to invite us to meetings and began to listen to us.' Taking the Iraqui Turkmens into consideration, first brought forth by the Ankara process and then later forgotten, demonstrates the significance of the role to be given to Turkey. However, it also shows that there won't be a true democracy in Iraq without speaking of the Turkmens.

SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION