09-01-2010
Erbil - Professor Michael Gunter told Rudaw journalist Hawar Ali Abdulrazaq, that he doesn’t think it’s an official PUK policy to attack members of the Kurdish opposition party Change (Gorran). Michael M. Gunter is an authority on Kurds in Turkey and Iraq and has written seven books on the Kurdish struggle. He is frequently consulted by media members for analysis and comment on breaking news in the Middle East. According to Gunter, Talabani’s condemnation of the attacks on Gorran, prove the ruling Patriotic Union of Kurdistan is not behind the attacks and assassinations of supporters of the Kurdish opposition list (Gorran). The former PUK-leader Nawshirwan Mustafa formed the Change list last July and won 25 seats to form a Kurdish opposition movement in the parliament. Currently Gorran is the main rival for the PUK in the Kurdistan region, also for the upcoming Iraqi elections in March. No PUK policy “I do not think that it is official PUK policy to attack Gorran supporters. Indeed Mam Jalal has specifically denied this, condemned the attacks, and called upon the security forces in Hawler (Erbil) and Sulaimaniyah to do everything to prevent similar incidents in the future. Iraqi President and PUK Secretary General Jalal Talabani is an honorable man, so I believe his statements. The Kurdish people are in a terrible situation if they cannot believe him,” the professor says. But he adds that there could be frustrated elements within the PUK behind these incidents. “If so, however, hopefully, Mam Jalal’s condemnation of these incidents will bring them to a close whatever their origin.” The professor thinks that the attacks on the Kurdish opposition will negatively effect the stability of the Kurdistan region. “Obviously, security issues like attacking supporters of the Gorran and kidnapping them has a negative effect on Kurdistan’s stability. One of the main attractions of the Kurdistan Regional Government KRG for personal security, business opportunities, and, therefore, political success, was that the KRG region did not suffer from the debilitating violence to the south in Arab Iraq. Gorran-PUK could weaken Kurdish power Asked, if the rivalry between PUK and Gorran could weaken the Kurdish position, Michael Gunter gave a definitive ‘yes’ as an answer. “Clearly, the war of words between Jalal Talabani and Nawshirwan Mustapha could weaken over-all Kurdish power. Everybody knows that over the years, the Kurds have often been their own worst enemy with their many divisions. These divisions have always invited the Kurds’ enemies to use divide-and-rule tactics against them.” Gunter reminded the Kurds of the civil wars between the KDP and PUK in the mid-1990s and that the PUK itself was originally formed on 1 June 1975 by combining Nawshirwan Mustapha’s Komala with Ali Askari’s Socialist Movement of Kurdistan group. “Everybody remembers how Ali Askari was captured and executed by other Kurds in 1978.” But Gunter says the current situation is much less serious than what occurred in the past. “However, it is the duty of all Kurds to make sure things do not get worse.” Democracy is competition Although Gunter thinks, these internal Kurdish divisions could hurt Kurdish power in the upcoming March 2010 Iraqi parliamentary elections, he thinks there is no reason why the KDP-PUK list (Kurdistani alliance) cannot cooperate with Gorran in the Iraqi parliament for the sake of the Kurds. “It is a bad argument to say there should not be any opposition among the Kurds because this will hurt Kurdish unity. This mentality will simply continue the old way of doing things, keep the same old people in power, and prevent needed reforms. Democracy means competition during the election and then compromise for the over-all good after the election.” Support from Baghdad? The violence between PUK and Gorran, could be supported by the central government in Baghdad, says Gunter. “As already noted, divide and rule has always been a favorite tactic used by the Kurds’ enemies. However, I would stress that if there is an outside hand, its role is minor as clearly this is an internal Kurdish argument over what the future should be.” If the incidents between PUK and Gorran go out of hand, this would become a concern for the United States government. “I do not think they [incidents] will but of course only time will tell.” © Rudaw
