The Netherlands becoming the playground for far-away disputes

The botched U.S. occupation of Iraq has thrown that country in ever worsening chaos, as was observed by the Gholam-Ali Haddad, Speaker if the Iranian Majlis or Parliament, to Turkish foreign minister Ali Babacan yesterday.

This means that there is has been no central authority in Iraq since 2003. The North of Iraq is Kurdish and is run by the Kurdish allies of the U.S. The Kurds are a minority in Iran, Iraq and Turkey.

The Kurdish allies of the U.S. in North-Iraq are giving refuge to PKK terrorists. The PKK is a Kurdish Communist Army the fights to liberate the Kurdish parts of Turkey. Kurdish separatism is a threat to the territorial integrity of Turkey. Turkey is an aspiring EU member state. Many Kurds and Turks live in Western Europe, especially in Germany and The Netherlands.

Turkey is now attacking PKK positions in north-Iraq. It has threathened to invade Iraq and some of its troops are already on Iraqi soil carrying out operations against the Kurds. Turkey is trying to find support in the region for its anti-Kurdish offensive.

Turkish public opinion is in turmoil over the threat of Kurdish separatism. There have been nationalist demonstrations in several Turkish cities. Demonstrators chant and display nationalist slogans.

Similar convulsions are also taking place in The Netherlands and Germany. In Berlin, Germany and Utrecht, The Netherlands, ethnic Turks demonstrated to express their dismay about the threat of Kurdish separatism. They demanded an invasion of Iraq by the Turkish Army.

Dutch viewers (Dutch) commented on the obvious loyalty of these Dutch-speaking Turks to Turkey. The Turkish diaspora in Western Europe knows exactly where their loyalty lies. It lies with Turkey and Turkish nationalism and goes against the host societies and Kurdish migrants in their host societies.

These demonstration give substance to the allegation by Dutch nationalist leader Geert Wilders that ethnic Turkish citizens have a "double loyalty", and that their loyalty to Turkey trumps their loyalty to The Netherlands.