A veteran Turkish diplomat who led his nation’s delegation in discussing possible entry into the Iraq war on the side of the United States believes failure to do so prevented dealing with Kurdish rebels. Ambassador Deniz Boiukasi said Turkey’s parliament in March, 2003, narrowly rejected a government motion to militarily cooperate with the US invasion of Iraq. He points out in a new book that if Turkey had participated in the invasion, their troops would have occupied areas of Kurdistan now under the control of Kurdish rebels. According to Bouikbasi, for some reason the military remained silent during the debate, and, if they had spoken out, Turkey would have joined in the Iraq war and thus gained control over areas of Kurdistan in which Kurdish militants now use as bases of operation.

The former diplomat raises some interesting, “what if” questions, but he does ignore how becoming part of the Iraq war would also have plunged his nation into a conflict that drags on and on and most probably would have led to suicide attacks in Turkish cities.