New York, Nov 23: In a bid to prevent massive influx of refugees toward its borders in case of a US-led military attack on Iraq, Turkey is preparing to send troops into northern Iraq. Information regarding the "mission", which is being circulated among top government officials, is giving rise to fears that it could be used as a cover for the Turkish military to snuff out any attempt by Iraqi Kurds to set up their own state if President Saddam Hussein falls from power, the New York Times said today.
Turkey has been battling its own Kurdish insurgency for years, and Turkish leaders are concerned that a war in Iraq could lead to an independent Kurdish state on their own borders.
Turkish officials were quoted as saying they are fearful that an Iraqi attack on the Kurds in Iraq, possibly with biological or chemical weapons, could cause a panic similar to the one that followed the Persian gulf war in 1991, when more than a million Kurds poured into Turkey and Iran in flight from the attacking Iraqi army.
"In case of a massive influx, it would be necessary to take measures to keep them away from our border," Gokhan Aydiner, regional governor in southeastern Iraq, told the Times. "We have our own experience from 1991 in mind. We naturally do not want it to be repeated."
The Turkish plan is a measure of the anxiety that is sweeping the region as the threat of an American-led war with Iraq looms. While many leaders in the area say they would be happy to see Hussein ousted, they fear a war's unintended effects. Bureau Report