In our conversation at the Erbil headquarters of the Kurdistan Regional Government, Sadi Ahmed Pire, the foreign relations official of the Kurdistan Patriotic Union (PUK), had some unusual comments about Turkey’s standing. Pire told Al-Monitor: “The United States comes from across the ocean, Britain and Germany come from Europe, but our next-door neighbor Turkey can’t come? Turkey is a good guest at the table. But when its friend is attacked it watches from a distance. It constantly talks of security of its borders. What about security of our borders?”
When asked if he was alluding to Turkey not preventing the passage of the Islamic State (IS), Pire said: “Yes, Turkey did not prevent it.” He added: “Turkey’s role is shameful. If it is not helping now, when will it? It is our trade partner. For it to do nothing against ISIS is not compatible with friendship and partnership. The Iraqi people’s opinion of Turkey changed 80%. People now think Turkey is deceiving them and has abandoned the people.”
Fine. If Turkey is losing ground in north Iraq, and peshmerga, the military force of south Kurdistan, failed badly by not defending the Yazidis at Shengal, who is winning? The answer came from a Kurdish businessman from Turkey who gave an account of events on the night when the IS turned toward Erbil after capturing Shengal: “When the reports came that IS was approaching Erbil, the city began emptying. People massed at markets and gas stations. Then PKK [Kurdistan Workers Party] guerillas came, paraded in the streets to boost the morale of the people. People started to cheer the PKK.”
Before Shengal, after Shengal
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