IPS/IRAQ/NOVEMBER 1992

[PeaceNet Middle East Team]

From: <pnmideast>
Subject: IPS/IRAQ/NOVEMBER 1992

/* Written 12:07 am  Nov  1, 1992 by newsdesk in cdp:ips.englibrary */
/* ---------- "IRAQ: Federalism may offer solution" ---------- */
Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Title: IRAQ: Federalism may offer solution to Kurdish question


an inter press service feature

by john roberts

irbil, iraqi kurdistan, oct 29 (ips) -- iraqi opposition groups
are currently gathering in kurdistan to consider how to unseat
president saddam hussain.

there is talk of the creation of a rebel government and of a new
constitution that would proclaim a federal iraq - assuring
continued autonomy for the kurds.

but since no-one knows for sure when or where the opposition
meeting will be held, and since the opposition essentially
comprises a disparate body of politicians and refugees -- united
only in their opposition to saddam -- predicting any possible
outcome of the talks is fruitless.

the opposition has to come to terms with several very different
realities. saddam seems as firmly entrenched in baghdad as ever
and the bulk of his troops still appear to be loyal to his
baathist regime.

in the north, the kurds may be willing to compromise on their
official political status, to ensure they remain within the
republic of iraq, but they are not prepared to compromise on their
bottom line.

baghdad, they say, will never again be allowed to determine the
internal affairs of iraq's kurds and, above all, there can be no
return of the feared iraqi secret police, the mukhabarat.

''we love iraq. we love our unified iraq,'' a top kurdistan front
official told a group of astonished journalists a few days ago.
''federation will keep our union stronger than self-
determination.''

the kurds of iraq have changed their fundamental position under
heavy external pressure. this, they hope, will yield them both the
recognition they require abroad for their regional government and
the recognition they require from the rest of iraq -- so that
their political autonomy can be safeguarded when saddam falls.

kurdish sources said that since last may's general election,
which led to the formation of a regional government for kurdistan,
the central question had been the relationship of the new kurdish
assembly to existing and future iraqi institutions.

kurdish sources say the iraqi opposition, which combines more
than 17 separate parties or factions, proposed that the kurdistan
parliament in irbil first issue a statement concerning federalism.
(more/ips)

iraq: federalism may offer solution to kurdish question(2-e)

iraq: federalism (2)

the opposition would then be asked for its formal backing for a
federal solution at its next meeting. the sources also implied
that this proposal was made under pressure from the west.

turkey, they say, was consulted on the issue throughout, since
turkey controls the only freely-available external overland access
route to iraqi kurdistan.

''finally we head from turkey that federalism is okay,'' said one
source, referring to turkish president turgut ozal's support for a
federal solution -- not just for iraq's kurdish problem, but also
for turkey's. ''he (ozal) made clear this kind of federalism might
be a good step to removing saddam from power.''

the kurds prefer to sidestep the question as to whether ozal in
fact speaks for anyone but himself. certainly ozal's views of a
federal solution for turkey's kurdish problem are bitterly opposed
both by prime minister suleyman demirel and by the turkish armed
forces, which are currently at war with turkey's pkk kurdish
fighters.

for the moment, the kurds believe federalism is the best way of
easing both turkish and iraqi opposition fears that they are bent
on dismembering the iraqi state in order to establish an
independent kurdistan.

they know that federalism is not a concept with which the middle
east is particularly familiar, since politics in the region tend
either to revolve around strongly centralised governments or the
principle of separate legal jurisdictions for different
communities with political power remaining at the centre.

''it's a factor of geopolitics,'' noshirwan mustafa amin, who
recently headed the kurdistan front's abortive negotiations with
the turkish pkk, told ips. ''we haven't chosen our neighbours, but
they are our neighbours.''

as a result, he says, iraq's kurds have to cooperate with turkey.
''it's the only way. turkey is our window to the world.'' if there
is to be another window, it will be the reopening of the old one --
facing baghdad. the kurds hope that will only come about when a
new government has ousted saddam's hated regime.

thus, they have good cause to make common ground with the rest of
the anti-saddam opposition. in exchange, they want federation.
and, if their own assessments are correct, that is what the
opposition is prepared to concede in order to present saddam with
a credible united front.

a unified iraq, but unified through a federal system which
includes kurdistan, may not be quite such a fanciful dream.
(end/ips/rp/jr/rp/92)