There's a high price to pay for secession. Rasha Saad reviews the situation of the Kurds, Turkey and Iraq According to the pundits, one of the most obvious lessons that can be derived from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) crisis with Turkey is that there is no protection offered to those who want to secede from the motherland. In acknowledging this fact, Tareq Al-Homayed wrote that this should induce the Kurdistan region to seriously reconsider its position before the forthcoming Kirkuk referendum -- or the impending Kirkuk battle. "This is especially true today since, as some would say, Baghdad stands in the line of fire in its defence of the Kurds and Iraqi territory." In his article in the London-based daily Asharq Al-Awsat Al-Homayed said those who support separatists today turn against them tomorrow. "This can be exemplified by the PKK's fate; after being supported by Syria, Damascus has now decided to side with Ankara," Al-Homayed wrote. Also in Asharq Al-Awsat Ahmed Al-Rabie wrote that though he has always been and always will be a dedicated defender of the just causes of the Kurdish people, this would not stop him from stating that the actions of the PKK in northern Iraq harms the Kurds and their cause, as well as further deepening the crisis in Iraq "which is one of the most important countries when it comes to the Kurdish presence." Al-Rabie argued that Iraq's stability is essential for achieving regional stability. As such, he wrote, no political entity in Iraq should be allowed to set its own private agenda and interests before that of the national interests of Iraq as a whole. Furthermore, Al-Rabie insists that the actions of the PKK against Turkey has left its neighbour no choice but to retaliate in military fashion. These acts harm the stability of Iraq and do nothing to improve the security situation. "The Iraqi government needs to adopt a clear and transparent policy regarding the PKK since Iraq as a whole is more important than any political party or political belief. "No Iraqi party should be allowed to anger its neighbours or betray Iraq's future, as it currently suffers from terrorism, extremism and the forces of sectarianism," Al-Rabie wrote. Abdul-Rahman Al-Rashed wrote that he refuses to defend the right of the Kurdish rebels to carry out their military operations against the Turkish state, since their practices are no different from those undertaken by violent armed groups in Iraq and the region. In Asharq Al-Awsat, Al-Rashed wrote that it was Turkey's prerogative to fight terrorism on its territory and that it was clear that Turkey will end up destroying the Iraqi Kurdish federacy in its entirety under the pretext of pursuing these militant Kurdish groups. However, for Al-Rashed, the more pertinent question is: Are we as Arabs concerned with the survival of Iraqi Kurdistan notwithstanding the controversy that surrounds it within Iraq and across its borders? In an attempt to find an answer Al-Rashed wrote that the demolition of the Kurdish model in Iraq will act as a gateway for Iraqi political sedition that could spread to the rest of the state at a time when everyone keeps reiterating the importance of maintaining the unity of Iraq. Like other Arab pundits, Al-Rashed regarded the destruction of Kurdistan as the beginning of the destruction of the only part of the country that lives in relative stability, and the only refuge for thousands of Iraqis fleeing the violence that taints the rest of the country. Practically speaking, Al-Rashed argues, Turkey's determination to destroy the territory will be the last straw for Iraq after which it will become embroiled in an endless war between its various sects, neighbouring states and international forces. Al-Rashed explains that Iraqi Kurdistan territory represents the only successful model and stable pillar in the country, and that through it, it is hoped that Iraq may be able to achieve unity and stability. If the Turks are permitted to crush Kurdistan, it will flash a green light to Iran to do the same in southern Iraq, the impending battlefield. "For all intents and purposes, this presents the end of Iraq, which neighbouring Arab states are fighting to defend its unity, since its division threatens the security of the entire region," Al-Rashed concluded. In the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper, Abdullah Iskandar explained that the denial of the Kurdish leaders in Iraq of any relationship with the current crisis, for tactical reasons does not nullify the fears of the developments in the region, and the fact that this region will be the theatre of any Turkish war in Iraq. According to Iskandar, it also does not nullify that the Kurds of Iraq will be at the centre of the turmoil, and that the damaging effects of this will affect them. Consequently, they will not only be concerned but perhaps more so than the partisan PKK who are spread out in the mountains of the region and who have nothing to lose after having left their villages in Turkey. In this sense, Iskandar argues, it is in the interest of the Kurds in Iraq to launch an initiative to solve the current crisis, after the central authorities in Baghdad offer guarantees. "It is in their interest to work towards reassuring the neighbourhood that their experiment in ruling is the result of development in modern Iraq, in war and in peace, and not a law that must be applied to the Kurds in Turkey, Syria and Iran," Iskandar contends. In its editorial, the Saudi Al-Riyadh newspaper wrote that the main problem with Kurdish leaders is that when any progress is made concerning their national issue they tend to raise their dreams and aspirations to an impractical level. "Provoking Turkey is not in the interest of the Iraqi Kurds. Hence the Kurds should ask whether reconciling with the countries that host Kurdish communities is better and safer for them, or will the dream of creating the Greater Kurdish State, despite all the hardships that entails, remain their priority," the editorial wrote.
