# Turks shell Iraqi Kurdistan (again) **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 20, 2007, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turks-shell-iraqi-kurdistan-again/419820 "2007-09-20T01:12:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turks-shell-iraqi-kurdistan-again/419820/1 "2007-09-20T01:12:52Z")
According to [Voice of Iraq.](http://www.aswataliraq.info/look/english/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=4&NrArticle=55550&NrIssue=2&NrSection=1) [It’s not the first time this has happened (recently).](http://www.iraqupdates.com/p_articles.php/article/21060)[It’s not even the second time.](http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Iraq_protests_Turkish_artillery_attacks) And the Turkish PM says [he won’t rule out military options against the Kurds.](http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/09/18/asia/turkey.php) So if it comes to war between our Turkish allies and our Kurdish proteges – which side is the U.S. on? Or is there some way we can avoid picking sides? [Recent relevant GD thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=422214) I keep hoping some farsighted U.S. administration will make Turkey an offer to outright **buy** the independence of Turkish [Kurdistan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurdistan). That’s probably the only way to solve the problem once and for all. (Well, that would still leave Iranian Kurdistan and Syrian Kurdistan – but at least there we would have no trouble picking sides.) But I doubt the Turks would sell at any price – national pride runs too high. How long has it been since any sovereign state willingly gave up part of its national territory? (Not counting the “velvet divorce” between the Czech Republic and Slovakia, each of which was already a going concern under their union anyway.) ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turks-shell-iraqi-kurdistan-again/419820/2 "2007-09-20T01:47:50Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] …I keep hoping some farsighted U.S. administration will make Turkey an offer to outright **buy** the independence of Turkish [Kurdistan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurdistan). That’s probably the only way to solve the problem once and for all. (Well, that would still leave Iranian Kurdistan and Syrian Kurdistan – but at least there we would have no trouble picking sides.) But I doubt the Turks would sell at any price – national pride runs too high… [/QUOTE] Only the EU can buy independence for Turkish Kurdistan. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turks-shell-iraqi-kurdistan-again/419820/3 "2007-09-20T12:44:03Z")
[QUOTE=alphaboi867] Only the EU can buy independence for Turkish Kurdistan. [/QUOTE] I think you may have that backwards. Kurdish independence is the price the EU would charge Turkey for admission. ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turks-shell-iraqi-kurdistan-again/419820/4 "2007-09-20T14:07:17Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] I think you may have that backwards. Kurdish independence is the price the EU would charge Turkey for admission. [/QUOTE] Not even on the cards as a condition of entry. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turks-shell-iraqi-kurdistan-again/419820/5 "2007-09-20T15:32:12Z")
[QUOTE=tagos] Not even on the cards as a condition of entry. [/QUOTE] Not explicitly, perhaps, but it would, at a stroke, eliminate a lot of the human-rights-record objections. Besides, the EU is probably not eager to take on an unresolved Kurdish question as the Union’s problem – which it would become, if Turkey were admitted with its current borders. There would be Turkish-Kurdish members in the European Parliament making demands to be heard.