High Stakes Game in Northern Iraq

High Stakes Game in Northern Iraq

My Iranian sources tell me that the Iranians are hoping to expel PJAK from the area and replace them with Ansar al-Islam, the precursor group to al Qaeda in Iraq,

By Kenneth R. Timmerman
FrontPageMagazine.com 8/23/2007

Over the past week, with Iranian shells raining down on Iraqi villages in Kurdish areas along the border zone in the north, Iran’s leaders have engaged the United States in a high stakes game that has gone virtually unreported in the elite media.
Iran has massed thousands of troops along its northwestern border in preparation for a ground assault against Iranian Kurdish fighters who have sought refuge in the rugged Qanbil mountains in northwestern Iraq.
On Tuesday, villagers found leaflets bearing the official Islamic Republic of Iran logo, ordering them to leave the area or face the consequences.
“Our enemies, mainly the Americans, are trying to plant security hurdles in our country (Iran),” the leaflets said. “They achieve this through using agents in the areas of Qandil and Khanira inside the Kurdish region. 'The authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran will work on cleansing this area.”
Hundreds of Iraqis from the villages of Qandoul and Qal’at Diza, close to the Iranian border in the province of Sulaymanyah, fled as a result of the Iranian shelling, according to wire service accounts.
Should Iran be allowed to carry out its planned attack, it would amount to an overt aggression against its neighbor. But the potential damage is far worse, because of the deep U.S. engagement in Iraq.
A successful Iranian attack against opposition Kurds from the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (known as PJAK) based in Iraq, will strike a triple blow against America.
Not only will the Iranians have violated Iraq’s sovereignty, guaranteed until now by the United States; they will have shown that despite the presence of 160,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, the United States “can do nothing” against Iran, as the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, liked to say.
Even worse: if the United States sits this one out, we will send a terrible message to Iranian opponents of the regime in Tehran that despite all our calls for “freedom” and “democracy” in Iran, we will not intervene to prevent them from being massacred, even when we have the opportunity and the forces in place to save them from certain death.
And yet, unless Congress and the White House react immediately, that is precisely what is going to happen.
An Iranian victory in northern Iraq will have far-reaching consequences, and will further embolden president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is engaged in political, military, and intelligence hardball with the United States on multiple fronts, including inside Iraq.
Just last week, U.S. forces arrested another “high-priority” Iranian Revolutionary Guards officer in Baghdad, and accused him of funneling aid to Iraqi insurgents.
U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Garver announced the arrest on August 15, and said that coalition forces “will continue their focused operations against unhelpful Iranian influence interfering in Iraq.”
An unnamed U.S. official said that the Iranian Guardsman was responsible for smuggling explosively-formed penetrators, Katyusha rockets and other weapons into Iraq, and “had direct ties to senior militant leaders and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps Quds Force.”
Another U.S. military spokesman. Brig. Gen. Kevin Bergner, told reporters in Iraq on Aug. 14 that Iran had recently provided 240 mm long-range rockets to insurgents in Iraq for attacks on U.S. forces.
"The 240 mm rocket is a large-caliber projectile that has been provided to militia extremists groups in the past along with a range of other weapons from Iranian sources," Bergner said.
Similar Iranian-made rockets I examined last summer in Haifa and in other northern Israel towns and cities had been fired against Israeli civilian targets by Hezbollah with warheads containing thousands of miniature ball-bearings, designed to kill and maim.
On May 25, PKK guerillas in Turkey derailed a train bound for Syria for Iran, ostensibly carrying construction materials. When prosecutors went through the wreckage they found an Iranian-made rocket launcher and 300 rockets bound for Hezbollah in Syria, according to Turkish press reports.
There is no way those weapons could have transited Turkey on the Turkish national railroad without someone in the Turkish government knowing what was going on.
Iran is banking on its secret “entente” with Turkey – to supply Hezbollah through Syria, and to smash the bases of each other’s opposition Kurds in Iraq - to deter the United States from any military intervention in northern Iraq.
The Turks have been threatening for months to go after the PKK, who have tens of thousands of fighters training in camps inside Iraq, along the Turkish border.
And so the Iranians have spread the rumor, which until now has been accepted at face value, that its own Kurdish dissidents (PJAK) are actually the Iranian branch of the PKK, which the U.S. has designated as an international terrorist organization.
The State Department took Turkey’s insistence that PJAK was allied with the PKK seriously enough that it refused to meet earlier this month with visiting PJAK leader, Rahman Haj Ahmadi, despite his open support for the U.S. military presence in Iraq and his identification with U.S. goals in the region.
Both the PKK and PJAK have training camps in the Qanbil mountain range in northern Iraq. But because of the difficult geography, and their different needs, they inhabit “different sides of the mountains,” Rahman Ahmadi told me in Washington.
“The PKK doesn’t need us,” he said. “They have tens of thousands of fighters, and hundreds of thousands of sympathizers.”
But Ahmadi acknowledges that PJAK and the PKK cooperate to a certain degree, if only to prevent clashes between their own fighters.
“The president of the Iraqi Kurdish Regional government, Massoud Barzani, also has an agreement with the PKK,” he told me. “Does that make Barzani a supporter of the PKK?”
This is not the first time the Turks have played us in Iraq. In 2003, on a flimsy pretext of domestic opposition, they successfully prevented the 4th Infantry Division from crossing Turkey to join coalition forces that liberated Iraq from Saddam Hussein.
We can sit by and allow Iran to violate Iraq’s sovereignty, defy the U.S. military, and smash a significant Iranian opposition group on the slim pretext that Iran is “merely” seeking to punish its own rebels, just as Turkey.
Or we can extend protection to the Iranian Kurds who have established training camps in the rugged mountains of northeastern Iraq, and inflict a double blow on Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps.
Clearly, the Iranians believe they can thumb their noses at the U.S. military. For more than a week, they have conducted intermittent shelling of Iraqi Kurdish villages in the general vicinity of suspected PJAK bases.
My Iranian sources tell me that the Iranians are hoping to expel PJAK from the area and replace them with Ansar al-Islam, the precursor group to al Qaeda in Iraq,
“They want to send Saad Bin Laden, who is currently in Iran under Iranian government protection, into a new base inside Iraq,” one source told me.
Saad Bin Laden is Osama Bin Laden’s eldest son, who is widely viewed as the heir to his terrorist empire, should his father die. He was given refuge in Iran shortly after al Qaeda evacuated its bases in Afghanistan following the September 11 attacks.
PJAK is a natural ally of the United States. They seek to unite Iranians to overthrow the dictatorship of the clergy in Iran, and to work together to build a future secular democracy.
We don’t have to provide them weapons, or money, or training. But if we allow Iranian Revolutionary Guards troops to attack PJAK inside Iraq with impunity, we may as well pack up and leave – not just Iraq, but the entire region. Because we will have no credibility left.
If instead, if we seize this opportunity to smash an Iranian Revolutionary Guards offensive with massive force, we could send a message that will make Iran’s leaders think twice before messing with us again.
It’s about time we made Iran’s leaders pay a price for killing Americans and undermining America’s allies. Here is a terrific opportunity to get that job done.


Kenneth R. Timmerman was nominated for the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize along with John Bolton for his work on Iran. He is Executive Director of the Foundation for Democracy in Iran, and author of Countdown to Crisis: the Coming Nuclear Showdown with Iran (Crown Forum: 2005).

Parliament Sworn in with calls for peace and dialogue

Parliament sworn in with calls for peace and dialogue
Monday, August 6, 2007
Pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party's Türk shakes hand with Devlet Bahçeli, of the Nationalist Movement Party, raising hopes among the populace that fighting in Parliament will end. Officials of both parties congratulate each other

GÖKSEL BOZKURTANKARA TDN Parliament Bureau

A picture of two men shaking hands… Could it possibly be that important to revive the hopes of a nation for a better future? For a stable country where problems are overcome through dialogue? Today, Turkey enjoys this picture. The actors in the picture published on the front pages of almost all Turkish newspapers are, Devlet Bahçeli of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and Ahmet Türk of the Democratic Society Party (DTP).
Almost all political parties accuse the DTP of not unequivocally condemning the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorism. But the MHP's Bahçeli has the sharpest rhetoric on the issue, criticizing the government for not hanging Abdullah Öcalan the imprisoned Kurdish leader, and throwing a piece rope to the crowds during his election campaign.
This picture of reconciliation between these two men will always bring to mind the opening ceremony of the 549-seat Parliament if they do not forget their responsibilities toward the Turkish people, which they pledged in their oath. “We are civilized people, we will have relations,” said Türk, speaking to reporters after his gesture to Bahçeli.
The Turkish Parliament was sworn in Saturday during a 10-hour long swearing in ceremony of the newly elected 549 lawmakers amid calls for peace and dialogue between Turkish nationalist and pro-Kurdish politicians.
DTP MPs pay respect to Atatürk:
The swearing in ceremony started with Şükrü Elekdağ, the oldest member of the Parliament who presided over the session pending the election of a new speaker, laying a wreath at Atatürk's monument. Elekdağ and the members of the speaker's office held a minute of silence in respect to Atatürk with the participation of ministers, lawmakers and 20 deputies of the DTP.
Elekdağ, in his opening remarks, referred to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's statement on the night of general elections on July 22 saying, “The messages he gave are crucially important and are seen as pre-conditions for the continuation of stability and comfort in our country.” Then Elekdağ invited lawmakers to take oath after the singing of the national anthem. Some of the DTP deputies did not join the other deputies singing the national anthem.
President and top general absent
The new Parliament consists of four political parties' groups, namely the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), the Republican People's Party (CHP), the MHP and the DTP. Besides, 13 deputies of the Democratic Left Part (DSP), one deputy of the Great Union Party (BBP), another one from the Freedom and Solidarity Party (ÖDP) were also present in Parliament alongside with independent deputies.
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaşar Büyükanıt and top commanders were absent during the opening ceremony of Parliament. The generals were holding the Supreme Military Council (YAŞ) meeting with Prime Minister Erdoğan. The diplomatic community, members of the top judicial institutions were in Parliament too.
A historic moment
All eyes were on the MHP and DTP deputies who were sitting next to each other. Before the elections, Prime Minister Erdoğan warned of a possible fight between those two groups in Parliament. But on the first day, things did not go the way Erdoğan predicted. All the DTP deputies took their oath in Turkish without adding a single word in their mother tongue Kurdish.
Furthermore the DTP deputies Ahmet Türk, Aysel Tuğluk, Sırrı Sakık, Osman Özçelik and Hasip Kaplan went to the MHP ranks and shook the hand of Devlet Bahçeli and other MHP officials. Bahçeli stood up as a show of respect to Ahmet Türk while the two wished each other success in Parliament.
Bahçeli, during his election campaign, described the DTP as affiliated to the PKK. Ahmet Türk, speaking to reporters Saturday, said, “We are deputies. We may have different opinions but we will work under the same building. We are civilized persons we'll have relations.” He also told CNN-Türk television, “We want to help in working out a peaceful and democratic process .... in a spirit of conciliation and dialogue: It is with these sentiments that we intend to accomplish our mission in Parliament.”
Sırrı Sakık said almost everybody was expecting such a move in Parliament adding, “We shook hands in a civilized manner. I think that the prime minister had to do the same. He should have shaken the hands of party leaders. If the prime minister would do so, it would be a better beginning for all.”
Kurdish crisis in 1991
The Pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DPT) deputies acting in coordination was an eye-catching development. The deputies were seated in Parliament together. The DTP Muş deputy Sırrı Sakık said they had the same seats in 1991. “We have a lot of memories here. We were dismissed and now thought that we should enter Parliament from here.”
DTP deputies were elected in 1991 from the now-defunct People's Labor Party (HEP) and spoke in Kurdish during the swearing in ceremony. Leyla Zana and her colleagues also wore the traditional Kurdish colors of red, yellow and green on their headbands, which led to crisis in the General Assembly. Hatip Dicle took the floor in Parliament with a scarf composed of the same colors. The HEP deputies were later dismissed from office and in order to protest the decision and not be detained, they avoided leaving Parliament. During their demonstration, the deputies were sitting in the same seats the current DTP deputies are seated.
The DTP's Istanbul deputy Sebahat Tuncel is an eye-catching figure among other deputies. She was elected deputy while in prison. Being one of the youngest deputies in Parliament, she served at the speaker's council and declined to answer questions by the press.
Bahçeli applauds DTP deputies
The DTP deputies caused no problem during the swearing in ceremony and read the constitutional text of the oath. Everyone in Parliament was on alert in case a crisis erupted and all eyes turned to DTP Batman deputy Ayla Akat Ata when she took the floor to take her oath. But what had been expected did not take place and Ata read the text in Turkish, a development that was applauded by her party colleagues and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli. In a reciprocal gesture, DTP deputies applauded Bahçeli after he took his oath.
Erdoğan uses key word ‘democracy'
Commenting on the friendly encounter between DTP deputies and MHP leader Bahçeli in Parliament, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said, “We hope Turkey experiences a more advanced democracy under the roof of Parliament.” He emphasized that all political parties in Parliament should show common sensitivity especially about the separatist terrorist organization.
Baykal: DTP must say PKK is terrorist group
The Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal avoided shaking hands with both Bahçeli and Ahmet Türk. In a brief conversation with reporters after the ceremony, he said: “DTP deputies did not attempt to take their oath in Kurdish and shook hands with the MHP leader. These are nice things. The main criterion for me is that DTP deputies should be able to say, “PKK is a terrorist organization.” During the entire ceremony, Baykal did not meet with the DTP deputies and preferred to remain far from them. Prime Minister Erdoğan applauded Baykal when he took his oath but Bahçeli did not do the same. Baykal similarly applauded Erdoğan who took the oath. But Bahçeli did not.
Yılmaz seated in independents' row
Accompanied by former minister Cavit Kavak and businessman Abdurrahman Albayrak, former Prime Minister Mesut Yılmaz, who was elected independent deputy from the Black Sea province of Rize, entered Parliament just before the opening of the General Assembly and held a brief conversation with reporters.
When asked whether he was excited, Yılmaz replied, “very much.” Yılmaz tried to figure out which seat belongs to him with the help of reporters. Together with the other independent deputies, Yılmaz was seated in the back row. He shook hands with Bahçeli, a partner in his former coalition government.
Fashionable deputies
Most of the deputies preferred to wear black suits for the ceremony, while female deputies competed to be better dressed. Both female and male deputies seemed good-looking. The CHP's Adana deputy Nevin Gaye Erbatur drew attention with her white linen dress that was adorned with the six arrows of the CHP representing the six principles of the Republic. The DTP's deputy Ayla Akat Ata, the AKP's Özlem Türköne and the CHP's Güldal Mumcu were among the fashionable deputies. Türköne, who wore a light colored suit, had to change her dress when warned that she had to work at the speaker's council since she is one of the youngest deputies. The CHP's Istanbul deputy Necla Arat was similarly warned when she wore a short-sleeved dress.
Swearing in, four times
Some of the deputies preferred to read the text of the oath one by one to avoid any mistake, while some got excited. The speaker of Parliament had the deputies who forgot the text repeat their oath. The temporary speaker of Parliament, Şükrü Elekdağ, had memorized his oath. Deputies including Erdoğan burst into laughter when the AKP's Bingöl deputy used the term “instinct,” instead of “ideal.” The AKP's visually impaired deputy from Istanbul, Lokman Ayva, took the floor with the help of the staff. Ayva swore in by reading a special text. The AKP's Ankara deputy Burhan Kayatürk misread the text three times. After a warning from Elekdağ, Kayatürk read it without an error on his fourth attempt. The AKP's Bolu deputy Yüksel Coşkunyürek had to repeat his oath after he missed a few words. H
Yağmurdereli puts on a show
Producer Osman Yağmurdereli, elected Istanbul deputy of the AKP, kissed his hand and put it onto his forehead after he completing his oath, a move that prompted applause from the deputies. “I will take notes during my tenure in Parliament and then shoot a film of Parliament,” he said.
Delay in taking oath
The AKP's Istanbul deputy Hayati Yazıcı, whose daughter got married yesterday, was the sole deputy who did not participate in the swearing in ceremony. He participated in the initial ceremony in Parliament and then departed for Istanbul together with Erdoğan. Yazıcı will take the floor to take his oath in the first upcoming session of Parliament.
Parliament to convene on Aug. 9
The ceremony in Parliament took 10-and-a-half hours, ending at 1:20 a.m. The process involved the swearing in of 548 deputies. The first task of Parliament will be to choose its speaker. Elekdağ said applications for the post will last until Wednesday and announced that Parliament will convene at 3:00 p.m. on Aug. 9 to elect the speaker.

Source: Turkish Daily News

Novak glad to have planned PKK operation leaked

News Diplomacy
Novak glad to have planned PKK operation leaked
Veteran syndicated US columnist Robert D. Novak has said he would be happy if his reporting about an operation before it took place rendered inoperable a joint US-Turkish military move to suppress terrorist action by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) based in Iraq.

Robert D. Novak His article, published Monday, led to much speculation in the Turkish media, almost all of which agreed that it was a "pre-emptive leak." Novak said that US officials are planning a US-Turkish operation that, if successful, would avert a Turkish invasion of Iraq.
Participating in a meeting held at the Washington-based think tank The Heritage Foundation on Thursday, Novak responded to questions from Turkish journalists about the information provided in his article.
Novak said he received the information from a Congress member who was against such an operation and later found two additional sources confirming the same information. Milliyet daily's veteran Washington correspondent, Yasemin Çongar, highlighted in her article on Friday that Novak used the third-person singular masculine, hinting that his source was a male member of Congress.
In his article Novak said that Eric S. Edelman, a former aide to US Vice President Dick Cheney and now undersecretary of defense for policy, last week gave secret briefings concerning the issue on Capitol Hill. "While detailed operational plans are necessarily concealed, the broad outlines have been presented to select members of Congress as required by law," Novak wrote, adding that "US Special Forces are to work with the Turkish army to suppress the Kurds' guerilla campaign."
Novak told Turkish journalists that the planned operation aimed at killing PKK leaders and he was personally against such an idea. "If an improper operation has been sabotaged because of this article, it would make both me and the member of Congress who gave me the information happy," he was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency in remarks translated into Turkish.
When asked whether he believed that his article had harmed US interests and served to advance the interests of the PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by the US and a majority of the international community, Novak said: "You're calling the [PKK] a terrorist organization. Others call them 'the Kurds' freedom fighters.' I said this once on television and got into trouble. I believe that one side's 'terrorist' is the other side's 'freedom fighter.'" The fight between Turkish security forces and the PKK dates back to 1984 and has resulted in the loss of tens of thousands of both civilians and soldiers.
04.08.2007
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