Ankara ‘compelled’ to lend an ear to Turcomans

Trying to avoid taking those messages of Turcomans seriously at first, Ankara felt the urge to warn the Kurds after those residents of the region boiled up as saying, "Those communication teams do not meet us."
The Turkish Foreign Ministry yesterday called the Ankara representatives of the Kurdish groups in northern Iraq for a meeting. Meeting Foreign Ministry officials, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP)’s Turkey representative Safin Dizayi and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK)’s representative Behrus Galali were reminded of Turkey’s red lines and told about the country’s concerns.
The Kurdish representatives claimed that the Turcomans misinformed Ankara about the developments in the region such as the government officials delivering similar statements a while ago.
According to Ankara, the problem stems from PUK leader Jalal Talabani. Talabani follows a stance of someone who is on the lookout for a profitable chance.
As one can recall, a similar criticism was earlier uttered by KDP leader Massoud Barzani. Barzani had said the peshmergas of PUK did not obey the agreement signed between parties but entered the city center of Kirkuk, the country’s number two oil region, through benefiting from the collapse of Iraq’s defense.
Both Ankara and Barzani share the same view at present: Talabani’s entrance to this region created a security vacuum which paved the way for looting in Kirkuk and tension among groups within the city.
Barzani responded to Ankara which is trying to interpret the developments in Kirkuk and Mosul according to its own wishes.
When asked the importance of Turkey’s non-participation to the war for KDP, Barzani said, "This has been the most significant factor. For us, this is 90 percent of the victory."
As the Kurdish formations of the region described Turkey’s non-participation to the war as 90 percent of the victory, this flared up the discussions in Ankara.
Let’s recall these discussions…
The discussion between those who supported that Turkey should directly and actually intervene in the region from the very first days of the war and those who supported that Turkey should calmly monitor the developments in the region. Moreover, this discussion has a potential that may affect the political structure of Turkey.
For the past couple of days, the Foreign Ministry has especially been aware of the situation and playing the game according to the rules. We should evaluate the statements of Chief of Staff and foreign minister who say that they work "in harmony" in this respect.
Ankara could only call the Kurdish representatives for a meeting and told them the sensitivities of Turkey against Barzani’s statements and Turcomans’ situation.
We will wait and see how much this will work.