Abstract

Iraqi Kurds Play Turkey's Game

Only months ago, Iraqi Kurds had to fight to get a meeting with Congressional aides, but now their leaders are being wined and dined in Washington. If in past years the U.S. tilt was first to the Iran, and then to Iraq against fundamentalist religious leader of Iran Ayatollah Khomeini, this time the ball has been passed to Turkey. For years a NATO military outpost, Ankara receives some $625 million annually in U.S. foreign aid, ranking it third behind Israel and Egypt. With the crumbling of Russia, Turkey has been given a new task as the cornerstone of regional security in the postwar Persian Gulf, in particular as a bulwark against Iran, and as a role model for the Central Asian republics. In spite of what most Americans believe, Turkey, not Iraq, has victimized Kurds the most in the twentieth century.