Why Turkish Troops are Going to Iraq?

The big fear motivated by Soviet Union’s claim on Turkey’s eastern provinces Kars and Ardahan and its desire to have a military base on the Bosphorous, affected Turkey’s decision to send troops to Korea where it had nothing in common, even many Anatolian guys could not point out its location on a map. Against Moscow’s careless threats, the Menderes government decided to side with the United States in order to guarantee NATO umbrella.

Fifty-three years later, while Turkey is on the verge of sending troops to Iraq, it is also seen that concerns over territorial integrity are again playing a primary role in this regard. The only difference is that this time the danger is from the south and not from the north. Turkey replied affirmatively to Washington’s troop demand not because it believes the request has international legitimacy or that Turkish public supports the idea, but because it thinks the risks that would follow if it does not cooperate with the U.S. could grow bigger. Here are the main risks of non-cooperation with U. S.:

*The fight in northern Iraq against 5,000 PKK-KADEK militants, who are threatening Turkey after announcing an end to their [unilateral] cease-fire, would become more difficult.

*If stability is not to be ensured within a short period of time, Iraq would turn into a bloody quagmire where ethnic and sectarian groups fight each other. The Turkmans which is the only unarmed group, could be massacred during this uproar.

*De facto status of Kurdish state in northern Iraq may change into de jure and thus Turkey would face the risk of disintegration.

While all these points are taken into consideration in the risk part of the list prepared by Ankara, one should also focus on the plus side of cooperation with U.S. Direct and indirect financial assistance through IMF, support for Baku-Ceyhan pipeline project, European Union membership, the Cyprus issue and many other issues indicates that it is more advantageous to cooperate with U.S. than not to cooperate.

When it is considered from a different perpective, one of the demands of those who rejected the March 1 parliamentary motion will partially be realized now. As it would be remembered, during the debates main opposition party CHP (Republican Peoples Party) had argued that ‘American soldiers should not come to Turkey but Turkish troops should go to Iraq.’

However, Turkey is sending troops to Iraq without having got what it really wanted, except partial cooperation on the PKK-KADEK issue. The Bush administration has failed to obtain a mandate from the U.N. to guarantee international legitimacy and it has also not been able to get an invitation for Turkey from the interim Iraqi Governing Council. On the contrary, while the voting on the motion was going on in the Turkish Parliament, Iraqi Council tried to announce a statement saying ‘No’ to Turkish troops in addition to daily negative voices from members of American appointed body.

To be successful in such a situation, from the least-ranked soldier, who will be assigned in Iraq, to the government; from the public leaders to the opposition, everyone has significant responsibilities. First of all, as it is expressed in the new parliamentary motion, vital civilian projects should be undertaken in Iraq to prevent any impression of Turkish troops being occupiers or part of an occupying force. Secondly, it should not be forgetten that Mehmetcik (The Turkish Soldier), after crossing the border, represents the whole of Turkey, not just the government.