Traffic flows along the main thoroughfares of this small city nestled in a valley in the shadow of the Zagros mountains. Men in turbans, baggy trousers with cumberbands and tight jackets shop diligently in the fruit and vegetable shops in the old city. 

But, Mohamad Tofiq, a former member of the politburo of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), the ruling party here, said, “The situation is getting very serious. What happens will be decided when Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip goes to Washington next week” for a meeting with George W Bush.“The Turkish troops are on the border. If they carry out an operation, this could disturb the situation here,” he said. However, Mr Tofiq said that the Turkish military is determined to take dramatic action for several reasons. The generals seek to demonstrate they are in control of the situation.

“The authorities (in the Kurdish region of Iraq) cannot deal with the PKK. They are based in the inhospitable mountains along the border and cannot be defeated by a ground operation... Turkey will not accept this situation,” Tofiq observed.

Mr Tofiq said that it was better for Turkey, Iraq and the West if the PKK remains where they are because there are chances that al-Qaeda may try to fill the vacuum in the mountains. The region’s terrain are far more difficult than the mountains in Afghanistan.

Mr Tofiq, despite the prevailing situation, said, “People here are relaxed because they are used to crises.” Mr Tofiq had stepped down from the politburo of the PUK a year ago in order to put pressure on the party to accept reforms.

He and other senior PUK figures have joined together to launch a pressure group with the aim of promoting transparency and accountability in government. They have launched a weekly newspaper and a website and are in the process of making preparations for a satellite television station.