NPR: U.S. Role in Turkey-PKK Conflict Scrutinized

U.S. Role in Turkey-PKK Conflict Scrutinized

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki (right) talks to Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan (left) with the help of a translator during a meeting today in Baghdad.

Ali Al-Saadi-Pool/Getty Images

Diplomatic efforts aimed at convincing Turkey not to invade northern Iraq to go after Kurdish rebels continued today with a promise from Iraq to help curb their attacks. As I've been following these unfolding negotiations, one thing I've been wondering about is the United States' role in the conflict between Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.

"What role is that?" Jenny White responded with a laugh when I asked her to talk about it. White is an associate professor of anthropology at Boston University and an expert on Turkey.

"Really, it's kind of ludicrous," she continued. "I was in Turkey this past summer, and you could sense how mad Turks are at the U.S. And the decline in popular support was due to the fact that the U.S. was doing nothing to stop the PKK attacks against Turkish soldiers and civilians, despite the fact that the PKK was operating in territory supposedly under U.S. control. And the whole Armenian business in Congress made relations between Turkey and the U.S. even worse."

But, of course, the United States already has a lot to deal with in Iraq. On All Things Considered on Monday, Michele Kelemen talked to experts who pointed out that the U.S. military is not likely to transfer much-needed troops in areas like Baghdad to the northern edges of Iraq. And then there is the sense that the United States and Turkey are no longer "on the same wavelength," as they were in the days of the Cold War.

White said that when she was last in Washington, a military official talked about how things have changed, saying the U.S. was displeased with Turkey's relationship with Iran, which has tried to help fight the PKK.

With limited military options, the United States seems to be getting tough with its Kurdish allies in northern Iraq, even saying publicly that it is disappointed with Kurdish inaction against the PKK. So it becomes yet another diplomatic balancing act: putting pressure on one ally to avoid losing another in the largely hostile region.

4:00 PM ET | 10-23-2007 | permalink

Comments (Send a comment)

These are not rebels, they are terrorists, NATO, USA, EU lists them as terrorists. NPR calls them rebels. I listen to NPR almost everyday, I will have to think twice of what I hear from NPR if you continue to make major mistakes like this.

Sent by Al Nuh | 9:26 AM ET | 10-24-2007

I am fairly certain that NPR is taking the "eagle's-eye" view of the situation. If NPR listed the PKK as terrorists, it would only be natural to list their counterparts, or the Turkish army, as terrorists, too. In in doing this, wouldn't it be natural to assume the U.S. as equally responsible aggressors, seeing as how we have indeed supported the Turkish military in their efforts to combat Kurdish "rebels"? But surely we aren't terrorists... And forgive my sarcastic tone, I just don't think listing people as terrorists should be such a hasty process.

Sent by Trevor | 11:16 AM ET | 10-24-2007

I really dont know untill when Turkish people delude themselves and claim that Kurdish are turks mountanous. its 2007, the period of cold war passsed that US support you. I do think that Turksih government is terrorist not PKK. turky kills kurds, raised %80 of the Kurdish villages to the ground. PKK is just resisting the Turkish oppression. PKK is the most ligitimate force for the Kurds in turkey to defend them. Turksih government is totally confused and dont know what to do it asks PKK to lay down their arms and stop fighting and Now PKK declared a truce. but Turkey then says, we dont deal with them. Turkey has killind thusands of Kurds and still continue to do so. Turks need to look back at their history and decide either PKK is terrorist or Turksih Government!?

Sent by Yerevan | 12:21 PM ET | 10-24-2007

Turkey, like any other state has the right to defend and protect its' borders. It also has the right to defend itself when attacked, repeatedly.

Sent by linda kutzer | 8:27 PM ET | 11-21-2007

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