Al-Ahram Weekly: Turkey and the Kurdish Terrorists - Who wants another Israel? - by Ayman El-Amir

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Turkey and the Kurdish Terrorists - Who wants another Israel? - by Ayman El-Amir

The fundamental issue in abeyance is the decades-long aspiration for the creation of a state of Kurdistan. At issue is whether in the imperfect world of geopolitics, the creation of such a state would be a fulfillment of the post-World War I Woodrow Wilson principle of self-determination or a violation of the recognized sovereignty and territorial integrity of four states of the region -- namely, Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey. Is a state of Kurdistan a World War I historical remiss that should now be rectified by redrawing maps and territorial borders? Are the Kurds creating the case of another Kosovo, or could the contiguous Kurdish tribal settlements in four sovereign states follow the example of Jewish settlements in Palestine under the British mandate and stake a claim to a national home for the Kurds with international assistance? Was the US Senate's non-binding resolution calling for the partition of Iraq along ethnic and religious lines a misguided step or the work of pro-Kurdish lobbyists, particularly from Israel?

Israel has a strategic interest in breaking up Iraq, the only Arab country that once had serious ambitions of acquiring nuclear technology under Saddam Hussein.It would allow Israel to break out of its isolation as a non- Arab pariah in the Middle East and join hands with another non-Arab entity in a mutually reinforcing alliance. The new Kurdish stronghold would benefit from Israel's military power and technology, and Washington-backed policies, to build and strengthen other Kurdish minorities in Iran, Syria and Turkey for the ultimate objective of building the independent state of Kurdistan on territories sliced off these countries. Israel would benefit from extended Kurdish family alliances to destabilize its opponents, dominate the Middle East and reshape it in its own interests. That would be the new Middle East the US is hoping for, with Israel hovering over the oil and gas riches of the region.