Word: iraqi
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...Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will try to calm these passions in person with a hastily scheduled trip to Turkey. After strong language from both Washington and London, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki appears to have gotten the message. He broke the government's long silence on the issue and finally vowed to shut down PKK "operations" in Iraqi territory. Turkey has agreed to consider talks with Iraqi government representatives, including, perhaps, Iraqi Kurds--but not with the PKK, which the U.S. has designated a terrorist group. Turkey may yet send troops across the border, but if communication channels...
...Fortunately, the Iraqi Kurdish problem is fixable. For a start, Jalal Talabani will have to stop acting like a Kurdish national resistance leader and more like a President. What he has to do is kick the Turkish Workers' Party, the PKK, out of Iraq. I am told it would be fairly easy because most of the PKK's fighters operate from within Turkey rather than Iraq...
...would have hoped that Talabani would have understood that the last thing the Iraqi Kurds need is to incite Kurds in neighboring countries. At the moment, there are three or four international oil companies ready to drill in the north. The only practical oil route is through Turkey - which of course the Turks will close if the Kurds don't do something about...
...Bush Administration, in its effort to force Iran to give up its nuclear weapons program and stop arming and funding disruptive Shi'a parties in Iraq, has not attempted to hide its sympathy for Iranian Kurds - the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan, or PJAK. The PJAK operates from Iraqi Kurdistan and reportedly has been making regular forays into Iran, attacking Iranian army units, and returning to Iraq. The PJAK operates with relative impunity, knowing that if the Iranians would dare pursue them into Iraq, chances are that Bush would use it as pretext to hit Iran...
...should all keep our fingers crossed and hope the Iraqi Kurds come to their senses and do something about the PKK. If they don't, we're going to take one more walk along the abyss - Turkey and Iran coming together and ganging up on the Kurds. Talk about a board we'll never nail down...