{"id":480,"date":"2018-07-19T12:31:37","date_gmt":"2018-07-19T11:31:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/research.kent.ac.uk\/beta-carc\/?p=480"},"modified":"2019-05-29T11:35:58","modified_gmt":"2019-05-29T10:35:58","slug":"t-northerniraq91-turkey-on-kurds-in-iraq","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/research.kent.ac.uk\/conflict-analysis\/2018\/07\/19\/t-northerniraq91-turkey-on-kurds-in-iraq\/","title":{"rendered":"T-NorthernIraq91 – Turkey on Kurds in Iraq"},"content":{"rendered":"

Turkey on Kurds in Iraq (1991)<\/strong>
\nSuggested Citation: Neophytos G. Loizides, Greek-Turkish Negotiations and Crises 1983-2003 Dataset , Queen’s University Belfast.<\/p>\n

Case Summary:<\/strong>
\nThis case study examines Turkey\u2019s response to the flow of Kurdish refugees into the country from neighbouring Iraq. By April 1991, almost 400,000 refugees need emergency humanitarian aid, and some of these attempt to enter Turkey.<\/a>[i]\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0Lexis\/Nexis provides 196 results for the terms \u201cTurkey,\u201d \u201cKurds,\u201d \u201ccrisis\u201d for the period 4\/1\/1991 to 5\/1\/1991 (full text search under European News Sources).<\/p>\n

Case Study Features<\/strong>
\nEffectiveness of Offensive Policies:<\/strong>\u00a01<\/strong>
\nTurkey gains tremendous positive support after the war, due to the humanitarian crisis.<\/a>[ii]\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0This crisis also offers Turkey a unique chance to consider controlling some important strategic areas in Iraq (areas needed to prevent the infiltration of PKK guerillas from Iraq). Turkey has to act now, and the use of military threat is the only way to prevent conflict in Iraq and to stem the flow of refugees.<\/p>\n

Offensive vs. Defensive Signals Indistinguishable:<\/strong>\u00a01<\/strong>
\nThe flow of Kurdish refugees is the result of the war in Iraq. However, Turkey feels that the refugee camps will provide shelter for PKK guerillas. Turkey is criticised for its treatment of Kurdish refugees. At the same time, foreign diplomats acknowledge that the Turkish fear of the consequences of accepting the refugees is legitimate and should be respected<\/a>[iii]\u00a0<\/a> \u00a0while others criticised Turkey\u2019s humanitarian motives in the international press.<\/a>[iv]\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Enduring Ethnic Rivalries<\/strong>:\u00a01<\/strong>
\nEnduring rivalries result from PKK activities in the region since the mid-1980s.<\/p>\n

Domestic Challenges<\/strong>:\u00a01<\/strong>
\nNew elections are expected in October 1991,<\/a>[v]\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0and the Yildirim Akbulut government is facing its lowest support ever.<\/a>[vi]<\/a>\u00a0There is a growing internal competition in ANAP between incumbent Akbulut and his former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mesut Yilmaz.<\/p>\n

Confrontational Policies (dependent variable): 1<\/strong>
\nTurkey threatens to intervene militarily in Iraq to prevent the flow of Kurdish refugees.<\/a>[vii]\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0Threats to use military power are coded as confrontational, here confirming both the security dilemma and the diversionary theory of war.<\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n

<\/a>[i]\u00a0Adam Sage, \u201cConspiracy of neglect that damned the Kurds; The West’s safe havens are too late to save thousands of Kurds perishing in the mountains.\u201d\u00a0The Independent<\/em>, April 21, 1991, p17.
\n<\/a>[ii]\u00a0\u00a0John Pearson, Juliette Rossant, Amy Borrus, \u201cTurkey\u2019s Gulf War Gamble may be paying off\u201d,Business Week,<\/em>\u00a0April 22, 1991, p.47.
\n<\/a>[iii]\u00a0\u00a0Blaine Harden, \u201cTurkish Accord Sought on Drive to Aid Kurds,\u201d\u00a0The Washington Post,<\/em>\u00a0April 12, 1991, p.29.
\n<\/a>[iv]\u00a0\u00a0Glenn Frankel, \u201cTurkey Calls Criticism over Refugees Unfair; Ankara \u2018Left Holding the Bag\u2019 on Kurds\u201d,\u00a0Washington Post,<\/em>\u00a0April 21, 1991, p.21.
\n<\/a>[v]\u00a0\u00a0\u201cFirst lady elected branch head of Turkey’s ruling party General Overseas\u201d,\u00a0Xinhua,<\/em>\u00a0News Service,\u201d April 28, 1991.
\n<\/a>[vi]\u00a0\u00a0John Murray Brown, \u201cLeadership contested in Turkey\u201d,\u00a0Financial Times,<\/em>\u00a0June 15, 1991. p.3;\u00a0The Independent,<\/em>\u00a0\u201cTurkey’s PM is sacked by party\u201d, June 16, 1991, p.16.
\n<\/a>[vii]\u00a0\u00a0,<\/em>\u00a0\u201cTurkey threatens retaliation over Iraqi attacks on Kurds,\u201d\u00a0The Toronto Star<\/em>\u00a0April 6, 1991, p.9.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1991<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":778,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-greek-turkish-crises"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.kent.ac.uk\/conflict-analysis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.kent.ac.uk\/conflict-analysis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.kent.ac.uk\/conflict-analysis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.kent.ac.uk\/conflict-analysis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/778"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.kent.ac.uk\/conflict-analysis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=480"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/research.kent.ac.uk\/conflict-analysis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":994,"href":"https:\/\/research.kent.ac.uk\/conflict-analysis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480\/revisions\/994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.kent.ac.uk\/conflict-analysis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.kent.ac.uk\/conflict-analysis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.kent.ac.uk\/conflict-analysis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}