H.E. The Prime Minister
KRG
Arbil

Your Excellency,

    This is to present my compliments and to advise you of the email communication sent to you, on 19 November 2007, by way of both the KRG Representative in Germany and the website of the KRG Foreign Ministry, reading as follows:

    I read with interest your timely edpage piece "Kurdistan's Hope for Talks" of 5 Nov 07 (Nechirvan Barzani, Washington Post: www.solami.com/mindset.htm#Nechirvan) - and the some 67 mostly illuminating comments thus elicited.
    After my earlier plans for a General Assembly of the Mosul Vilayet Council for May 2004 (.../invitation.htm ¦ .../recres.htm) were scuttled, respectively hijacked by some flat earth people at the UN and elsewhere, it has taken me some time to ponder and adjust to developements taking place in and around Iraq before I've raised my voice again (e.g. in my interview with the Turkish think tank Ekopolitik: .../rebirth.htm). I have just returned to Geneva from another trip to Turkey for exploring with some decision-makers there some new/old ideas on how to turn the Iraqi mess into opportunities to lastingly heal some new and old societal wounds in that part of the world (.../hotpursuit.htm#Gridlocks). And on the two most pressing fronts - e.g. the Turkish-Iraqi border violations, and the planned referendum on the future status of Kirkuk - I think it proper and indicated under the circumstances to draw your particular attention to the following items:

    I    The repeated armed incursions by Iraq-based PKK groups into Turkish territory, and by Iraq-based PJAK groups into Iranian territory, are seen as incompatible with Iraq's sovereign obligations under international law. In the case of Turkey, these incursions have, moreover, constituted violations of the recently reconfirmed Treaty of Friendship and Neighborly Relations between Iraq and Turkey of 29 March 1946 (Protocol 6, articles 1 and 11: .../bordertreaty.pdf). Turkey is seen to take seriously official statements admitting Iraq's inability and/or unwillingness to effectively and reliably see to it that Iraqi territory is not misused for armed cross-border operations.  No less unhelpful are official statements ruling out the extradition to Turkey of PKK leaders said to be responsible for such incursions and related damages. The risk thus remains high of the reportedly some 200'000 Turkish troops currently stationed at the border to react in self-defense, not excluding a temporary occupation of the Mosul Vilayet in case of a still not ruled out third party aggression against Iran.

    II    Based on
    (a) the PKK leadership's public statement of October 26, 2007: “If we are guaranteed that Turkey doesn’t attack us, we’ll immediately lay down our arms.” (.../hotpursuit.htm#Gridlocks);
    (b) the time-tested principle of sovereign responsibility for damages due to illegal armed cross-border attacks: "He who, with intent, by day or in the dark of the night, set fire to the property of a Confederate, shall have lost forever his rights as a member of our Communities, and he who shelters and protects this offender shall in our valleys compensate the injured." (Swiss Federal Pact of 1291: .../nations.htm#1291);
    (c) the standing formal invitation to the Turkish Government: "to avail itself of the good offices which the Mosul Vilayet Council may be able to provide towards an early cease-fire and a mutually advantageous lasting solution of Turkey's ‘Kurdish Question’" (.../a31.htm#4);
    (d) articles 4 and 14, in particular, of the Declaration of the Kingdom of Iraq of May 30, 1932, providing for international non-discrimination, minority protection and private property guarantees in all of Iraq (.../a3a.htm#DECLARATION); and
     (e) the principles laid down for resolving all conflicting landownership claims, as agreed to in 1992 and 1994 by leaders of the Mosul Vilayet's Assyrian, Kurdish and Turkoman communities (.../a32a.htm#Meeting), notably: "to have no territorial or other public claims against each other, to have their land holdings and related rights and obligations registered with the Mosul Vilayet Registrar [.../registrars.htm], to have any ensuing dispute with other proprietors or claimants settled exclusively by peaceful means, such as mediation or arbitration, with the termination of the League of Nations Mandate on 3 October 1932 serving as reference date for property rights, and disputes with foreign cIaimants to be settled under internationally recognized arbitration rules either in a mutually agreed third country or, by default, in Geneva, and to settle among themselves, or to have settled among their constituents, whatever claims, disputes or feuds that may arise in the future exclusively by peaceful means respecting the Rule of Law, their traditions and the overriding interests of their union enrooted in the Mosul Vilayet territory, as defined by the Mosul Vilayet Council;" (.../a31.htm#MOSUL):
    I took the opportunity to submit to the Turkish authorities notably the following proposals which are understood to be currently under consideration:
    1.    The Government of Iraq, in international law, is responsible for its entire territory, including any act which may emanate from its territory and which may cause any bodily, mental or material damage in a neighboring country. The right to self-defense and to hot pursuit (.../hotpursuit.htm) is provided for also in the Treaty of Friendship and Neighborly Relations between Iraq and Turkey of 29 March 1946. Damages caused in violation of international law by armed groups operating from across the Turkey-Iraq border may be examined by a neutral assessor. Unless the Government of Iraq is prepared to identify and duly extradite to Turkey the responsible individuals, the Government of Iraq may be called upon to pay prompt and equitable compensations.
    2.    The Government of Iraq is responsible for the safety of those residing on its territory. Reliable and strict enforcement of such international treaty obligations as the maintenance of a 75km demilitarized border zone is seen to afford the Turkish Government an opportunity to desist in the pursuit of its inalienable rights to self-defense. By availing itself of the good offices of suitable third partners, it may also facilitate the development and implementation of political answers to its internal "Kurdish question". Mutually agreed upon and properly equipped, the Mosul Vilayet Council (.../mvcindex.htm) and the International Committee for European Security and Co-operation (.../ICESC.htm) avail themselves for such parallel diplomacy good offices (.../edouardbrunner.htm).
    3.    The Government of Iraq is responsible for the reliable and strict application of its pre-eminent international non-discrimination, minority protection and private property obligations which, in international law, constitute the "fundamental laws of Iraq, and no law, regulation or official action shall conflict or interfere with these stipulations, nor shall any law, regulation or official action now or in the future prevail over them." (article 1, Iraq Declaration of 30 May 1932: .../a3a.htm#DECLARATION). In as much as article 140 of Iraq's current constitution may not be in harmony with this clause, the troublesome and regionally destabilizing impending "Kirkuk referendum" can and should be put aside in favor of more enlightened and appeasing approaches to overlapping land claims, such as the reconstitution of Kirkuk's reportedly vandalized cadastre office by other archives and registries (.../registrars.htm). As co-guarantor of the related rights of Iraq's internationally protected minorities, the Turkish Government, in consultation with other co-guarantors and the Government of Iraq, may take mutually beneficial corresponding initiatives at the UN and elsewhere.

    III    Ekopolitik is currently planning a private follow-up consultation on the above items with Turkish politicians and lawmakers (13-14 December probably in Ankara or Istanbul). The topic is: "Iraq's international minority & private property guarantees - How and Who is to bring them alive?" Currently, our co-founding Council members Najim Sourchi, Sheik Salar, Mohammad Siddiq Mahmoud, Mushir Hadi Ahmed, and Mohammad Mahmood Harony, as well as John Nimrod from Chicago, the Yezidi Pope from Dahok, Philip Wainwright from New York, and Hussein Tahiri from Australia are expected to join me there. Of course, I'm sure you have other channels to make your own views known. Yet, I'm equally confident that all of us would greatly appreciate and benefit from your experience and advice. Your personal attendance would thus be most welcome - the more so as your presence there is seen to significantly impact some impending decisions by our Turkish friends. Notably on what military and/or non-military and political course of action would best meet their and the long-term interests of the Mosul Vilayet residents in particular. At any rate, if you see yourself unable to personally attend our planned meeting, please advise me promptly on whether, either personally and/or on behalf of the Kurdistan Regional Government, you support the above initiative to provide for a non-military resolution of the border issue and for a road-holding solution of the Kirkuk headache in line with Iraq's still valid formal obligations under its 1932 Declaration by way of a correspondingly Iraq-funded mandate for our Council - or the UN-accredited I.C.E.S.C. - to serve as mediator, facilitator and neutral honest broker providing notably for a promptly and effectively de-militarized 75km boder zone based on the Turkey-Iraq Treaty of 1946.

While looking forward to hear from you at your earliest convenience, I take this opportunity to assure Your Excellency of my highest consideration, and remain, sincerely yours

Anton Keller, Adviser of the Mosul Vilayet Council
+4122-7400362  +4179-6047707    swissbit@solami.com    (www.solami.com/nechirvan.htm)

PS:  On November 19, the above-quoted communication was brought to your urgent and benevolant attention on the basis of need-to-know and Your Excellency's public and private pledges regarding your own and your government's desire to resolve the outstanding questions notably on the Iraqi-Turkish border, Kirkuk and the return of some seized assets in good faith, promptly and exclusively through negociations (see also: .../petition.htm). It is understood that some persons entrusted with external communications may have kept this information from you due to a misunderstanding of universally appreciated international standards of email communications. And it is hoped that the delays caused due this apparent preference of form over substance will not adversely affect your timely and appropriate response. [Meanwhile, on November 28, an indirect - negativ - public response is seen to have been given in the name of the KRG, thus calling into question the timeliness of the Istanbul/Ankara meetings set for December 13-14, 2007 and April 3-4, 2008: .../symposium.doc ¦ .../symposiumt.doc, with corresponding adverse consequences for the Council's efforts to help resolve the Kirkuk problem on the basis of international law and previously obtained consensus among the Mosul Vilayet's constituant communities]