WKI President reacts to Turkish invasion of Iraqi Kurdistan.
Urges U.S. leaders to call on Ankara to avoid humanitarian crisis, regional instability. Calls for non-military resolution of Turkey’s Kurdish problem.
May 15, 1997 –Washington, D.C.
Responding to the invasion of Iraqi Kurdistan (northern Iraq) by reportedly more than 50,000 Turkish troops, armored vehicles and aircraft, WKI President, Dr. Najmaldin Karim, issued the following statement:
“This military operation, possibly the largest in modern Turkish history, will aggravate humanitarian suffering and regional instability. It comes when the situation in the so-called safe haven is already tense because of recent threats from Baghdad, and on a day when Kurdish, U.S., British and Turkish negotiators convened to solidify a tenuous regional ceasefire agreement. The last thing anyone in the region needs is another refugee crisis.”
“Previous cross-border operations have had limited effect on the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas. Yet Kurdish civilians have been killed, maimed, and forced to flee their homes which are sometimes indiscriminately bombarded. It is tragic and ironic that villages destroyed by Saddam, which were rebuilt and protected by American efforts, again face destruction at the hands of a U.S. ally.”
“Turkey cannot solve its Kurdish problem militarily outside its borders. It must find a political solution within its own borders.”
“Our government and Congress must use their influence to convince Ankara to confront the real political issues which underlie Kurdish discontent. Until the real issues are dealt with peacefully and democratically, I fear these invasions could become a regular and deadly rite of Spring.”