Turkish President visits Baghdad; Suicide bomber kills 23 in northern Iraq amidst rising Kurdish-Arab tensions
  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Whatsapp
  • Linkedin
  • Print
  • Turkish President Abdullah Gul, in a landmark visit to Iraq, urged the Iraqi government to do more to root out Kurdish separatists hiding in the mountains along Iraq’s border with Turkey. Iraq’s President Talabani on his part promised his country’s help in disarming the PKK from the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq. Both sides also discussed issues relating to oil exports from Iraq. The pipeline that runs through predominantly Kurdish areas in northern Iraq and south-western Turkey to the Turkish port of Ceyhan has often been the target of sabotage since the US-led invasion in 20031.

    A suicide bomber struck meanwhile struck at a tent filled with Kurdish funeral mourners, killing 23 people in the northern town of Jalula. The region has witnessed a power struggle between the Kurds and the Arabs in recent times. A series of high-profile bombings over the past month have raised concerns that insurgents may be regrouping as the US begins to scale down combat operations and hand over security responsibility to the Iraqis, ahead of a planned American troop withdrawal by the end of 2011.

    Reports noted that Kurdish-Arab tension was beginning to acquire major significance threatening Iraqi stability given that the threat posed by Sunni and Shia insurgents had diminished. Prime Minister al-Maliki had also complained that the 2005 constitution gave too much power to regional authorities, including the Kurds while Kurdish politicians on their part have accused al-Maliki of wanting to expand his power at their expense2.

    Top