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Kurdish Superstate Unintended Consequences of Syrian War
by Joseph Earnest August 4, 2012
Newscast Media DAMASCUS, Syria—While backers of a war against Syria continue to arm the rebels in a bid to overthrow President Bashar Assad, Turkey has fears of its own that are justified. Turkey has accommodated the West during this crisis, something that hasn't amused its Arab neighbors. The tide could now turn against Turkey, if the Kurds have their own uprising and seek an independent superstate called United Kurdistan or Kurdistan People's Republic.
Turkey understands this reality, and even Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has already made a trip to Iraq, in order to discuss future Turkish policy towards Syria and the Kurdish people. Wednesday's visit did not sit well with Baghdad, and according to Haaretz, Iraq's foreign ministry accused Turkey of violating its constitution with the visit, saying that Davutoglu had neither asked for nor obtained permission to enter Kirkuk. (pop-up)
According to Turkish media reports, a Syrian Kurdish group linked to the separatist PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) had taken control of several Kurdish areas in Syria. The reports enflamed Turkish fears that if Syrian Kurds were to gain autonomy, as their brethren did in northern Iraq, it would spark calls for greater autonomy among Turkey's roughly 14 million Kurds.
France 24 reported that the worries of a Kurdish uprising are so severe, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime of "allotting five provinces to the Kurds, an obvious reference to the Democratic Union Party (PYD). The PYD organization is considered to be a Syrian wing of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and now has control over the 6 Kurdish regions bordering Turkey.
"It's a very interesting time," said Hugh Pope of the Brussels-based International Crisis Group in a phone interview with FRANCE 24. "I think Syria's Kurds could definitely hope for a better deal."
Referring to allegations that Syrian troops had ceded control to the PYD, Pope said it was "possible that it was a negotiated settlement," in this recent news report published by France 24. (pop-up)
The leader of Turkey's main opposition party Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who heads the Republican People's Party (CHP), said
the "sovereign powers of the West are preparing the ground to get Turkey
to enter into Syria for an armed conflict."
"If Turkey enters, getting out will be very difficult. I am warning the government about this,"
the Islam Times reported.
(pop-up)
Turkey believes, since an Arab spring was possible, a Kurdish one could also occur. "Unlike with Iraq, attacks in Syria can very likely draw Turkey into a prolonged military confrontation with the Assad regime, which has a formidable military and the political will to respond," says Hayat Alvi, lecturer in Middle Eastern politics at the US Naval War College. Add Comments>>
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