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Turkey Concerned Over
Israeli-Kurdish Cooperation
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Gul
said
Ankara
will not tolerate any "political activities in [northern]
Iraq
that will influence the future of
Iraq
"
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By
Sa’ad Abdul Majid, IOL Correspondent
ISTANBUL
, June 23 (IslamOnline.net) – Despite assurances from both sides,
Turkey
remains deeply concerned about the reported presence of Israeli
operatives in northern
Iraq
and their cooperation with the country’s Kurdish community.
The
Israeli ambassador to
Turkey
, Pini Aviv, denied Tuesday, June 23, a report by the New Yorker
magazine that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon took advantage of
the
US
occupation of
Iraq
by expanding Israeli presence in the northern
Iraq
.
The
diplomat told the Turkish ITV news network he reassured the Turkish
foreign ministry that
Israel
had decided long ago not to meddle in the Iraqi affairs.
Kurdish
leader Jalal Talabani further dismissed the report as "total
fabrication" at a press conference Monday, June 21, during his
visit to
Ankara
.
He
denied cooperation between the Israeli Mossad and the Turkish
peshmerga forces.
Turkish
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul had stressed that
Ankara
will continue to closely monitor the situation in northern
Iraq
.
He
said
Ankara
is keen on the territorial integrity of neighboring
Iraq
and cannot tolerate any "political activities in [northern]
Iraq
that will influence the future of
Iraq
."
The
New Yorker reported Monday that Israeli intelligence and military
operatives are now quietly at work in northern Iraq, providing
training for Kurdish commando units and running covert operations
inside Kurdish areas of Iran and Syria.
The
report
added that Mossad operatives work undercover in norther Iraq as
businessmen and in some cases do not carry Israeli passports.
The
magazine quoted a senior Turkish official as saying that
Ankara
will stand up firmly to the division of
Iraq
.
"Before
the war,
Israel
was active in
Kurdistan
, and now it is active again. This is very dangerous for us, and for
them, too. We do not want to see
Iraq
divided, and we will not ignore it."
Turkey
has been worried since the start of the US-led invasion of
Iraq
in March last year that the Kurds, encouraged by the
US
occupation, would establish an independent state in northern
Iraq
.
This,
Ankara
fears, might encourage similar separatist aspirations from its own
Kurdish community.
‘Natural’
A
retired Turkish general told
Turkey
’s NTV network Tuesday that the Israeli presence in northern
Iraq
was "natural".
Armacan
Kul Oglu said it serves
Israel
’s long-standing policy to "tear apart the Arab world by
playing the Kurdish card against
Syria
and
Iran
".
The
New Yorker article by Seymour Hersh -- a veteran journalist who
contributed to exposing the abuse
of Iraqi prisoners by US soldiers -- quoted current and former
Israeli intelligence officials that it is not strange that
Israel
is quite active in the region.
"Look,
Israel
has always supported the Kurds in a Machiavellian way—as balance
against Saddam. It’s Realpolitik," an intelligence officer told
the American magazine.
"By
aligning with the Kurds,
Israel
gains eyes and ears in
Iran
,
Iraq
, and
Syria
," he added.
"What
Israel
was doing with the Kurds was not so unacceptable in the Bush
Administration."
Turkey
’s Milleyet newspaper said the report put such a strain on the
already tense relations between
Turkey
and
Israel
.
The
Israeli-Turkish relations hit an all-time low last month in the wake
of the sweeping Israeli
raid into the southern Palestinian city of Rafah, which killed at
least 62 Palestinians, flattened 155 homes and made some 2000
residents homeless.
The
tension capped by
Turkey
’s recalling
its ambassador from
Israel
in protest at the offensive.
The
move - mild form of diplomatic rebuke, came days after Turkish Premier
Recep Tayyip Erdogan described
Israel
's military aggressions against Palestinians as "state
terror."
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