Ferai Tinc: Civilian-Military Balance in Iraq

“Turkey’s decision to send troops to Iraq worried Kurds, who welcomed the occupation forces toppling the Saddam regime, the most. I understand that. Mesud Barzani, the leader of one of the two Northern Iraqi tribes, says that neighboring countries have their own agendas and therefore they will bring more instability than stability to Iraq. Hence he opposes Turkey’s sending troops to Iraq.“However, there is one thing that I do not understand. That is the fact that the support of Turkey to generate a secure region in Northern Iraq was easily neglected. I was for toppling the Saddam regime by the power of the Iraqi public….I was against the war. I was against U.S. troops to wage war from Turkish territory either. However, now things are different. The order of Saddam was destroyed and a new order cannot replace it. There is an absolute turmoil. It is impossible to attain stability without ensuring security in the region, and it is impossible for the assistance efforts to yield good results without stability is ensured….The priority of Iraq is security. Therefore, it is inevitable for Turkey to cooperate with the coalition forces in Iraq for providing security to Iraq.”�