PKK the one to fear oil development

You might say that this is of minor importance. But then you’d be very wrong. This event contains so many different dimensions that it is difficult to calculate where it ends.

Some information:

Every day, 100,000 barrels of petroleum will be pumped from holes in two different places. This figure will reach 1 million barrels per day by 2011. The first year’s income is expected to be $2 billion, and to increase to $20 billion in four years. Of the total income, 83 percent will go to Baghdad and the remaining 17 percent will stay with the Kurdish administration, which controls the territory under which the 1 billion barrels’ worth of oil reserves lie.

So, you see, a tiny region with about 4 million people will earn a lot of money.

This development might be interpreted as follows: The Kurdish administration, for the first time, allowed a company partnered with a private company to extract petroleum from territory under its control. Until now, Iraqi petroleum was always extracted by the state.

The Kurdish administration, for the first time, exported petroleum despite the opposition of the Baghdad central government. And it signaled that it might operate larger reserves in the future.

The Kurdish administration, for the first time, showed that it would be enriched due to the big reserve on its territory and that it would draw Kurds to where they could stand on their own feet.

The Kurdish administration, for the first time, allowed a Turkish company to extract petroleum, which is very vital for it.

The Kurdish administration, for the first time, without hesitation or suspicion, wanted to export petroleum especially via Turkey.

If I were to further summarize, for the first time since the American invasion, the Kurdish administration concretely signaled the birth of an important environment of trust and cooperation.

Iraqi Kurds must have realized that Turkey would not harm them and that is why they took this step. This way, they signaled that relations with Turkey would progressively strengthen and intensify.

Now, some may falsely say, "See, those people feed the [Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or] PKK and we enrich them." I do not think that way. I believe the opposite. Thank God, Genel Enerji participated in this jobÉ

And thank God, Turkey, without any bad intention, allowed the use of the pipelineÉ

If anyone needs to be uncomfortable or scared about this development, it is the PKK.

The reason is simple:

The more Turkey and the Kurdish administration intensify their economic cooperation, the more the PKK will come under pressure. Neither Barzani nor Talabani would want to overlook the PKK as they notice enrichment through closeness with Turkey.

That is why I say, "Alarm bells are ringing for the PKK."

Understanding Hasan Cemal

Last weekend, Hasan Cemal wrote two articles in succession to get something off his chest Ğ or, actually, to share with us his anger at the distortion he was facing.

He was very right to be angry and offended. A short while ago, he did something others were not brave enough to do. He went to Kandil. He took on a risky job and met with PKK leader Karayılan. Then he told us about his views. The climate at the time was very important. All of a sudden, people had started to talk about a "historic opportunity" and everyone from the chief of general staff to the president and the prime minister stated that a new period had started. Hopes emerged. Speeches were held and expectations increased, but nobody knew what the PKK thought. Right then, Cemal went to Kandil and returned with interesting messages.

This chat, and the impressions Cemal brought back from northern Iraq, laid the groundwork for the start of an extremely healthy debate and a new page being turned in respect to Turkey’s Kurdish issue and the PKK’s terrorist acts. Cemal’s deed was a journalistic event, one that, had it taken place in the United States, would have been of such value that it would be a candidate for the Pulitzer Prize. It’s not just the person he talked to, but also the timing, that increased the value of this conversation.

But instead of being awarded, Cemal was treated badly.

Faced with questions like, "Hasan Cemal, why did you go to KandilÉ? What was your purpose?" this event, which should have been hailed as a journalistic success, went into directions not intended for it to go.

Some denounced Cemal as a spokesman for the PKK. Some declared him to be the prime minister’s courier. They smeared him with conspiracy charges. What a pity that even some of our well-known colleagues, politicians and even scientists joined this campaign.

The person to understand Cemal the best is probably me.

I wanted to break ground by conducting the first chat with Abdullah Öcalan. I too took on risks, and with great drive, I went to the Bekaa Valley for the sake of journalism. But when I came back, I was denounced as a traitor.

The daily Milliyet was recalled, the police followed me and I was tried and faced imprisonment of two to 15 years.

After reading Cemal, I want to call out to all the conspiracy theorists:

The number of real journalists, those who put everything up front, is progressively decreasing.

As long as these people Ğ namely people like Hasan Cemal Ğ stand upright, they will go to places like Kandil and reflect the views of those who give you goose bumps.

You may produce as many conspiracy theories as you like, but please do not touch journalists who do their work correctly. Do not do them that injustice.

One day you will look for them, but they will not be there. Then you will have to live with journalists who think like you, and rest assured, you will not find out the truth. You will have to live with what the government or sovereign power wants you to hear. Maybe as a society we deserve it, who knows?