Moscow(RIA Novosti) : Russia could mediate in the ongoing conflict between Kurdish separatists and Turkish troops on the Iraqi border, a Kurdish envoy said.
Turkey has amassed up to 150,000 troops in anticipation of a major military operation, which has been backed by parliament, against around 3,500 Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) insurgents based in Iraq.
“Russia has a historically good relationship with the Kurds, and I believe it is quite possible for Russia to play a mediating role,” Babakr Khoshavi, the representative of Iraqi Kurdistan to the Commonwealth of Independent States told RIA Novosti Tuesday.
He said Masoud Barzani, the head of the Kurdish administration in north Iraq, recently wrote a letter to the Russian leadership asking it to broker a peace settlement.
Khoshavi warned that if Ankara decides to go ahead with its cross-border operation, the attack would be doomed, due to the extreme difficulty of accessing the PKK’s bases in north Iraq.
“Turkey has repeatedly attempted to enter the area, but those operations invariably failed,” he said.
The envoy stressed that the Kurdish administration wants the conflict to be settled through peaceful means, as a military operation would “continue for a very long time, destabilising the entire region, not just Kurdistan but also neighbouring countries”.
On Monday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US President George W. Bush held talks in Washington, at which the US leader pledged to share military intelligence with Ankara on Kurdish militants.
Both Turkey and the US consider the PKK — which has killed around 40 Turkish troops and civilians since late September — a terrorist organisation. Prime Minister Erdogan’s talks with President Bush produced a framework of cooperation measures to counter the rebels.
The US had earlier advised Turkey against a large-scale cross-border operation against Kurdish separatists.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul Tuesday stressed that Ankara has no plans to occupy Iraq.
“Our goal is to wipe out the PKK terrorists. We respect Iraq’s territorial integrity and stability. The PKK threatens not only Turkey, but also stability in Iraq,” he said.