Turkey and Iraq are at it again. Over the last several weeks, Turkish military forces have invaded Northern Iraq in search of Kurdish forces that fled Turkey following Turkey's crackdown on the Kurdish populations. It is time that NATO stepped in and said something to one of their members for taking aggressive actions against their own populations and invading the boundaries of another sovereign country. Iraq should not be seen as an aggressor in this situation as they are refraining from attacking the invading forces of Turkey and should be applauded for their restraint. The military operations against the Kurds are coming at a time when the Turkish government is in a state of turmoil with religious government officials being opposed by the pro-Western and pro-secular military leadership.
The military leadership has sought to crack down on religious elements within the military and the government since they feel that an Islamic government would be destabilizing. To that end, the military has expelled pro-Islamic soldiers from key positions and has repeatedly put pressure on the government to maintain its ties to the West.Iranian President-elect Khatami has given the first signs of warming relations between the US and Iran. He said that the Iranians would possibly consider improved relations only when the US stops its campaign of disinformation about his country and treats it as it would other countries which have normalized relations with the US. The US, for its part, should improve relations with Iran since it would help stabilize the region and show that American foreign policy is more proactive than the reactionary policy that has apparently dominated US policy over the last number of years. Talks between the Israelis and Egyptians over the stalled Israel-Palestinian peace process resulted in little headway. Apparently, the Israelis have not conceded on several key issues, including the expansion and construction of settlements on the West Bank. There were also reports that the Israeli government will not give up more than 40 percent of the West Bank in any final settlement of the peace process. For the sake of the peace process, I hope this is only rhetoric and not an official pronouncement of the Israeli policy towards the Palestinians.
In Other News
Go To Page: 1
| Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: | View all related messages |
For a complete listing of article comments, questions, and other discussions related to lawhawk's Middle East Politics topic, please visit the Discussions page.