"The developments that have been occurring all over Iraq have been assessed; activities in the field of legislation, which constitute the foundation for national agreement in Iraq, and developments signaling Iraq reclaiming its former position in the region have been evaluated, and [as a result] it has been considered beneficial in this respect for our country to continue holding talks with all Iraqi groups and formations. Also, we have focused on [the necessity of] developing bilateral cooperation with Iraq in various fields, particularly in economy and energy."And now, let's have a look at the relevant section of a statement issued by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) about the air operation carried out on May 1 against the Kandil Mountains, where there are Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) camps: "The targets in the Iraqi sections of Mount Kandil found to belong to the PKK/KONGRA-GEL terrorist organization came under fire by jetfighters of the Turkish Air Forces as part of a comprehensive and efficient air campaign that began on May 1 at 11:30 p.m. … The combination of perfectly located targets and their being occupied by terrorists during the operation has allowed [us] to strike another major blow to the PKK/KONGRA-GEL terrorist organization. … The operations being carried out as part of the counterterrorism struggle will continue both inside and outside the country in a determined fashion and in accordance with military assessments."
During the week that connected the April 24 MGK declaration and the May 1 operation, a very important development took place. Ahmet Davudoğlu, chief foreign policy advisor to the prime minister, and Turkey's special envoy to Iraq, Murat Özçelik, went to Baghdad and held a number of meetings in accordance with the purposes highlighted in the declaration. And in this context, for the first time since 2003 they openly had talks with Nechirvan Barzani, the prime minister of the autonomous Kurdish regional administration in northern Iraq. All concerned with the region know that what underlies this open official visit is a process of unofficial talks. However although it is clearly voiced in the segment we quoted from the MGK declaration, some famed analysts and newspapers are still claiming that the meeting with Barzani is not state policy and that the army carried out the air operation while the Turkish delegation was still in Baghdad to express its discontent with the ongoing talks in Baghdad.
For instance, Cengiz Çandar wrote in his column in the Referans daily: "You cannot make anybody believe that an air operation -- carried out … on Iraqi soil and moreover while Turkish officials were still [participating in] the long-sought meeting with Iraqi Kurdish authorities in the capital of Iraq -- had taken place out of military necessity. [This operation was carried out] not the day before or a couple of days after the meeting; [it was carried out] exactly on the same day. The use of such 'diplomatic language' is understood as that the army has added an 'oppositional footnote' to the MGK declaration against the government's policy of becoming closer with Iraqi Kurds and holding direct talks with them. And so it is."
I hope Çandar will excuse me, but it's impossible for me to agree with him and other, similar assessments made by some newspapers because it is also possible to reach an exactly opposite conclusion from the developments that happened. First of all, the TSK's operation against PKK elements in northern Iraq through both land and air bombardment was not limited to the date on which the talks in question were held. These operations are part of a military process that is activated every now and then upon the receipt of pieces of real-time information. That is, it is a part of an ongoing, large-scale military operation process. It's simply an ordinary operation that has become too ordinary to allow anybody to extricate such a message.
On the other hand, it can also be easily said that the recent operation aimed to repeat the message that the diplomatic meetings before and after the military operation carried out under winter conditions and the military operation itself are both against the PKK and the PKK alone; that they do not target either Iraq's territorial integrity or the Iraqi Kurds in any way. On one hand they are holding friendly meetings with northern Iraqi Kurdish authorities in an effort to achieve more comprehensive and multidimensional cooperation with them in the future, and on the other, they might have wanted to clearly underscore the fact that Turkey's wrath is turned against only the PKK in the region. As for the message they tried to convey to Iraq and Iraqi Kurds, it is very clear: "As you can see, while we are discussing large-scale cooperation possibilities for our future with you here, our military is carrying out an operation against the terrorist organization located in places under your control. This proves that we see our relations with you and the PKK threat as two different issues. The operations are targeting only the PKK, unlike the initial wrong perceptions of the Iraqi Kurds."
In summary when we don't read the events with an irrational approach, we can say, contrary to the claims of Çandar and some newspapers, that the air operation that coincided with the talks in Baghdad will strengthen the hand of Turkish diplomacy. The message given is very clear; the recipient is clear. Any contrary comment would be tantamount to portraying one of Turkey's most serious institutions, where middle and long-term fundamental security strategies are devised, as a simple organ and its members as hopscotch players.
