Assad: If Iraq Splits Up, The Region Will Explode
BY ERGUN BABAHAN
SABAH- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is uncomfortable about a possible military operation by Turkey into Iraq. Of course, this doesn’t mean that he supports the terrorist PKK. He’s afraid that such an operation could irreversibly upset the regional balances. In his own words, he doesn’t believe that Turkey has designs on Iraq. But he would prefer that the problem be solved through political, not military, means. So when he was told about Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari urging the terrorist PKK to leave Iraq, he smiled and called this an important step.
Assad believes that the US is planning to establish an independent Kurdish state in the region. Calling the possible disintegration of Iraq a bomb which would blow up the Middle East, he urged all countries to support Iraq’s unity. He denied that in past years Syria served to headquarter the PKK. Stating that they were ready to discuss this issue, Assad tried to put a clear distance between himself and terrorism. He says that convicted PKK head Abdullah Ocalan was in Syria back in the ‘90s but that his country didn’t support him with money or weapons, unlike the actions of others today. Assad summed up his attitude by saying that when Turkey expressed its discomfort about the PKK being on Syrian soil, Damascus asked itself if this matter was important enough to lose Turkey’s friendship, and so chose this friendship.
Now, some 10 years later, we have come to face new tensions over a neighboring country and terrorism, and the threat of using force has again forced the host country to act. Unfortunately, the region we live in doesn’t make it easy to solve problems through political means. In this atmosphere, saber-rattling might be more effective than diplomatic methods. We hope the Iraqi administration understands Turkey’s determination. Actually, its ability to take effective measures against the terrorist PKK in northern Iraq is debatable. But it’s even an important development that the people living in the region now see that they might be in trouble due to the terrorist group.
Here it’s very significant that it supports trying to cut monetary and military support to the group. A terrorist group whose financial and military support is cut is unlikely to survive for long. And obviously, there are a great many things which can be done about this by Washington.
