Kurdistan IO Email

[Jedburgh]

The antipathy for Kurds within the Turkish military is well known. They really do not like getting shot or blown up by the PKK rebels. (Can you blame them? I would not have been too partial to having my troops shot at by Louisiana Cajun separatists)...

....I saw that movie!



Seriously though, its important to keep in mind that the "antipathy" for Kurds in Turkey long predates the PKK. The Kurds are the largest ethnic minority in Turkey, and, since the foundation of the state, the only one that potentially threatens its territorial integrity. Almost immediately after Mustafa Kemal rallied the nation, kicked out the Greeks and forced the WWI allies to recognize the new Turkey at the Treaty of Lausanne, the country was wracked with major Kurdish revolts. The Sheikh Said rebellion in 1925, the Agri Dag revolt that lasted from 1927 to 1930 and the Dersim rebellion in 1937 all cemented in the minds of the government and the military that the Kurds were "the" internal threat to the Turkish nation.

[Tom Odom]

Disclaimer
[Lest someone take offense here, my choice of Cajuns is a purely silly example--I could have opted for a host of other groups in the US but they would have been even much less PC than the one I chose].

As a near-Cajun, I would say never fear; Cajuns are not into PC

There really are 3 "third rails" when it comes to the Turks:

a. Encroachment on Kemalism, especially the thread that separates the State from Islam

b. Pushing an Armemenian genocide agenda

c. Pushing a Kurdish identity inside the country of modern day Turkey; this too, challenges Kemalist thought. The PKK is viewed--rightly--as the armed wing of this movement.


Rails A and C are buzzing right now.

Tom

[Tom Odom]

here is another vew

Kurdish resort an oasis of peace in Iraq
WORLD BRIEFINGS
By Jason Motlagh
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
May 30, 2007


RAWANDUZ, Iraq
If the sight of jagged peaks towering above red-roofed chalets fails to conjure up the Swiss Alps, the screams of children riding the imported alpine toboggan make the comparison hard to avoid.
But armed guards at the gate betray what visitors would like to forget: The newly opened Pank Resort is located in Iraq, a country fractured by war.
Owner Hazem Kurda, a Kurd who fled to Sweden during the Saddam Hussein-era and opened a successful rice-processing plant, knows he took a huge risk when he decided to invest tens of millions of dollars of his own money to build a sprawling modern complex nestled high in the northeast of Iraqi Kurdistan.
"To speak of [Iraq] and tourism in the same breath may sound crazy to many people," Mr. Kurda said. "But I made up my mind to do something unique in my country. I thought somebody should take the initiative, and others will follow."
Coming attractions include a cable car across the limestone gorge that plunges from the edge of his property, an 18-hole mini-golf course and a camping site for those on tighter budgets. If all goes well, he thinks Hilton or Sheraton might one day lend its name.
Today, the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) and a growing number of bold entrepreneurs are going to great lengths to promote the north as "the other Iraq," a haven of relative calm where Iraqi Kurds, Arabs and foreigners alike are free to do business, retreat to nature or just live normally for a few days. See full report

According to the report, the Turks are the biggest investors.

Best

tom

[redbullets]

here is another vew


According to the report, the Turks are the biggest investors.

Best

tom

They are, and those profiting on either side of the border don't want this party to end early. The Chinese are in as well, and I have the photos to prove it. Most well educated highway construction crew I could ever conceive of - bumped into them on the road between Erbil and Suley.

Cheers,