Why Does the U.S. Call Kurds Terrorists?
Given how the Turkish government has both used its security services and judiciary to target the prime minister’s political enemies rather than those who contravene the law, and how Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has apparently developed close business relations with a designated Al Qaeda financier, the idea that anyone in the United States government should take the Turkish government at its word with regard to terrorism is risible.
That said there is reason why the United States might once have designated the PKK to be terrorists. The PKK certainly engaged in violence, and killed a number of civilians for their ideological transgressions.
Recently, the continued designation of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) as “Tier III” terrorist organizations under the Immigration and Naturalization
Act has raised the issue again, although KDP leader Masud Barzani is
not being truthful when he says he cancelled a recent visit to
Washington because of the issue. (Rather, Barzani was upset that he did
not get a meeting with President Obama and that his second son, Mansour
Barzani, had trouble getting a visa; regardless, eldest son Masrour
traveled to Washington against the backdrop of the supposed boycott on
Washington so that his wife could deliver their baby at Sibley
Hospital).
Regardless, the Tier III
designation is wrong. The PUK and KDP—both U.S. allies—fought an
insurgency and killed many civilians. But at its root, they were engaged
in insurgency rather than terrorism. Lest anyone forget how violent the
KDP insurgency could be, here’s a blast from the past: A young and
svelte-looking Hoshyar Zebari—now Iraq’s Foreign Minister—narrating a propaganda video showing a KDP attack on what appears to be a civilian truck. Zebari seems to suggest that their goal is to disrupt Iraqi oil flow. In addition, both the KDP and PUK murdered several thousand civilians and captured opponents during the 1994-1997 Kurdish civil war.
Most American policymakers understand the Tier III designation
of the KDP and PUK to be a mistake, the result of a poorly worded law.
But as the United States considers its terror designation of our Iraqi
Kurdish allies, perhaps it is also time to reconsider whether the PKK’s
activities differ considerably from those of the PUK and KDP, other than
in the length and breadth of their insurgency that, at any rate, is now
suspended as peace talks continue.
The PKK is certainly not non-violent, and its roots in hard left doctrine certainly were dangerous in the context of the Cold War. But the PKK—like much of its leftist brethren—has evolved with the recognition
that communism was a failed ideology. The information at the root of
the PKK designation certainly should also be re-examined to ensure that
information contributed by Turkey is reliable and that the KDP’s
corroboration of that information is based on subjective evidence rather
than a desire to drag the United States into an intra-Kurdish tribal
struggle.
Perhaps now is the time to reflect on a broader Kurdish strategy and policy, one that reflects the 21st century
reality of Turkey, Syria, Iran and Iraq, and recognizes that the United
States and regional Kurds have many mutual interests and can benefit
from partnership.
Δεν υπάρχουν σχόλια:
Δημοσίευση σχολίου