The Kurdistan Freedom and Democracy Congress (KADEK), formerly known as Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK), warned at the weekend that it would retaliate with force if either Turkey or the United States moved to purge Southern Kurdistan of its forces. "It would be misjudgment for Turkey to count on the United States against us... Turkey should not play with fire," Mustafa Karasu, a member of the KADEK's leadership council, told the Europe-based Medya-TV late on Sunday. "No force could expel us from here. That is day-dreaming... If they crack down on us, we will restart the war."
Karasu said KADEK fighters would only lay down their arms if there was a solution to the Kurdish conflict and that they were prepared to establish ties with regional powers to facilitate a settlement. "We will establish ties with anyone for the interests of our people. This could be the United States, this could be Israel, but the US should help the resolution of the dispute, not block it," he said.
The US Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz has told the Turkish media last week that "PKK is a terrorist organization. I don't think we can tolerate a terrorist organization in northern Iraq. How we deal with that is a difficult issue ... but I think we are absolutely in clear agreement with Turkey and I think with the major Kurdish groups (in Southern Kurdistan ) see these people as terrorists and troublemakers and we don't need that kind of trouble." The American military has already disarmed the Mujahideen e-Khalq forces in central Iraq and issued a warning on Saturday asking "other armed groups" to follow the course of the Iranian guerrillas.
| I don't think KADEK is going to do that, but I'll bet the Turks would be happy to help take them apart. I don't think they should be allowed to do so — if they're on Iraqi territory, they're an American (and Kurdish) problem. If it can be done with minimal bloodshed, as with the MKO, we should do it that way. But if we know where there's a concentrated terror organization, it should be wiped out. That's a task we've set ourselves, and there shouldn't be any exceptions. |
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