Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-10-24-Speech-3-023"
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"en.20071024.4.3-023"2
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"Mr President, unfortunately, today’s vote on Parliament’s resolution on Turkey is overshadowed by very distressing and worrying events.
Last Wednesday, Turkey’s Grand National Assembly voted by an overwhelming majority in favour of a Turkish military incursion into northern Iraq. Since then, we have heard the distressing news of deaths and casualties on the Turkey-Iraq border, of bloody battles and combat, and we have heard that the Turkish military is firing on villages in northern Iraq. We have heard about attacks on Kurdish institutions and DTP offices, and about enraged nationalists attempting to lynch their Kurdish fellow citizens. Yet the signals that were sent out by Turkey after the end of the constitutional crisis in late August were so promising. There was talk of a new civilian constitution, further reforms, and more intensive reform efforts to address still unresolved issues. Mrs Oomen-Ruijten and many of my fellow Members wanted to take account of these positive signals and developments in Turkey after the reform efforts in Turkey came to a standstill last year.
The motion for a resolution is balanced and fair in its assessment and evaluation. However, in view of Turkey’s recent decision and the blatant threat of a military incursion which violates the territorial integrity of Iraq, I do wonder which aims Turkey is actually pursuing. Is it really about the PKK? The fact is that the Turkish military has carried out 24 cross-border operations in recent years and not one of them has actually had any lasting effect. Why should it be different this time? Or could it have to do with the oil reserves in the region around Kirkuk and Turkey’s intention of removing the autonomous status of the Kurds in northern Iraq?
What is clear, at any rate, is that the Kurdish issue cannot be resolved with an incursion into northern Iraq. From my perspective, however, it is also clear that Turkey cannot be seen to breach international law and violate Iraq’s sovereignty before the eyes of the European Union and the international community. Europe must now take responsibility and participate actively in developing a strategy for the resolution of the Kurdish issue, for this is the key to achieving genuine peace and democracy in Turkey."@en1
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