The move came as a big surprise because an early pullout was not at all anticipated. It appeared all the more surprising because both government and military authorities had insisted that the operation would take as long as necessary despite calls from both the US defense secretary and the US president himself for a swift end to the offensive. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, strangely, was the first to break the news of the Turkish troop withdrawal and the Turkish government, including Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, seemed to not have been informed of the pullout in advance. Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaşar Büyükanıt made the following clarifications. The decision to withdraw had been made long before the US defense secretary came to Ankara. It was not influenced by "outside [the US] or inside [Turkish government]" forces. The government was only "generally" informed about it. The decision was carefully kept secret to avoid compromising troop security. The operation had accomplished its limited objective of destroying the PKK's logistical infrastructure in northern Iraq. Büyükanıt did not fail to draw to attention the difficulties of conducting a ground operation under harsh winter conditions, saying: "Those who argue that it was an early pullout should just go and try to stay there for 24 hours. … It is a great mistake to ask, 'Why don't you leave some troops behind?' We know only too well under what conditions the troops there are serving."
The early pullout was a surprise, but surely a happy surprise. The longer its duration, the greater was the risk of greater troop casualties. Relations with not only the regional Kurdish administration but also with Washington and Baghdad could have been negatively affected. The worst eventuality, risking a confrontation between Turkish troops and the peshmerga, could not have been excluded. No one is claiming that the eight-day operation has put an end to the PKK in northern Iraq. It is hoped, however, that the operation has truly succeeded in dealing a severe blow to the terrorist organization, which is doing its utmost to provoke a region-wide Turkish-Kurdish war that would no doubt result in disaster for both Turks and Kurds as well as the world.
The fact that the operation was concluded just one day after calls from Washington for a quick end is being used by the opposition as evidence of the government's "servitude" to the US. Such arguments are hardly convincing. Ankara rejected participating in the US invasion of Iraq five years ago. It is, however, evident that a Turkish incursion into Iraq under US occupation could only be conducted within the constraints of an understanding reached with Washington. The real questions that need to be posed, therefore, are the following.
How effective is it to fight an enemy that employs guerilla tactics with bomber planes, tanks, artillery and regular troops carrying loads in excess of 40 kilograms in the thick of snow? Doesn't the nature of the enemy require that it be engaged with units that are trained for guerilla warfare and tactics?
Some, including British journal The Economist, have claimed that the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government may have approved the operation in order to distract the military's attention from the removal of a headscarf ban at universities. Such claims can hardly be taken seriously. But is the military's apparent full autonomy in the conduct of the operations against the PKK compatible with a democratic regime?
The ground operation has once more shown Turkey's determination in the fight against the PKK insurgency. Suppressing that insurgency, however, requires that Ankara cooperate not only with Washington and Baghdad, but particularly with the Kurdish regional administration in Iraq. Is the AK Party government finally ready to engage in a serious dialogue with the Kurds of Iraq against a common enemy?
Is the AK Party government finally ready to engage in talks with the representatives of Kurdish citizens in Parliament to decide on those political, social, economic and cultural measures necessary to put an end to Kurdish grievances? Is the AK Party government ready to declare an amnesty for the rank-and-file PKK militants in order to fulfill its pledge of demilitarizing the PKK? These are the questions that need to be addressed today more than ever.
