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.