Arabs unite over Turkish plans for Iraq

Arabs unite over Turkish plans for Iraq

By Jonathan Wright

CAIRO (Reuter): Turkey's plan to set up a buffer zone in
northern Iraq has brought Arab states together in support of
Iraqi sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Even those Arab governments which joined the military campaign
to drive Iraqi forces out of Kuwait in 1991 say they cannot
accept a foreign buffer zone in an Arab country.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, a pillar of Arab opposition
to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein during the Kuwaiti crisis, said
in remarks published on Monday that partitioning Iraq or annexing
Iraqi territory would be grave.

"Iraq is an Arab state the survival and unity of which we are
intent on preserving," he told the ruling party newspaper Mayo.
"Partitioning Iraq would create a dangerous situation in the
whole region," he added.

But after Mubarak called Turkish President Suelyman Demirel on
Monday, Egypt said it had Turkish assurances that it would not
set up a military presence in Iraqi territory.

Turkish Foreign Minister Tansu Ciller said Turkey would
explain its thinking to the Iraqi ambassador. "In a few days we
will invite all the Arab world's representatives and inform them
of the reasons for Turkey's requirements," she added.

Syria, Algeria and the six Gulf Cooperation Council states
have expressed reservations about the buffer zone, which Ankara
says would stop Turkish Kurds from using the area as a base for
attacks on Turkish forces.

A notable exception is Jordan, which has refrained from overt
criticism of the plan and has been developing ties with Turkey,
apparently as a bulwark against Syria.

Arab opposition reflects suspicion about Turkish policy in the
region, especially in the light of the defense cooperation
agreement which Turkey and Israel signed this year.

It also shows that pan-Arab solidarity and resentment of non-
Arab interference in the region can transcend the antagonism
between Saddam and his fellow Arab leaders.

Arab leaders can argue that just as they rallied in support of
Kuwaiti sovereignty in 1990, they should similarly defend Iraqi
sovereignty now against Turkish encroachments.

Diplomats say Arab governments are increasingly concerned that
countries like Israel, Turkey and the United States are deciding
the future of the region without consulting them and to the long-
term detriment of the Arabs as a single nation.

The same thinking lies behind Arab opposition to secessionist
movements in southern Sudan, even among governments which have no
love for the Islamist government in Khartoum.

By similar logic the Arab League has consistently and
unequivocally demanded that Iran withdraw from three Gulf islands
claimed by the United Arab Emirates.

"There's a sense of siege, of being in retreat, of being
squeezed on every front. This buffer zone plan clearly reinforces
that Arab perception," one Cairo diplomat said.

Arabs, especially Islamists and traditional Arab nationalists,
note that the United Nations, under U.S. influence, has imposed
sanctions on three Arab countries -- Iraq, Libya and Sudan. They
wonder which country will be next.

Syria, which has a longstanding territorial dispute with
Turkey, has been especially vehement about Turkish plans for
northern Iraq, seen in Damascus as an encircling tactic.

Turkey says the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), the target of
the buffer zone plan, has bases in Syria and in Syrian-controlled
eastern Lebanon.

The Syrian ruling-party newspaper al-Baath said: "Insisting on
this (setting up the zone) would no doubt have negative results
on future Arab-Turkish ties because Arabs would be forced to take
the needed decision to protect their rights."

"Any violation of the unity of Iraqi territory is a threat to
the pan-Arab security and all Arabs," added the Syrian government
newspaper.