Rogue Forces

“I won’t go as an opponent of the war, but as the prime minister of Turkey, who, as you said, has little power in time of war, with the National Assembly disbanded and a council of war replacing the cabinet,” Akas said. She stopped and blinked in disbelief. “You said Phoenix is still at Nahla? He’s at Nahla Air Base? Isn’t that where the fighting is, where all those men perished?” She saw Hirsiz and Cizek exchange glances. “Is there something else? What?”

Hirsiz hesitated to tell her, then shrugged and nodded to Cizek. “It’s going to be in the news soon anyway.”

“We bombed Nahla Air Base,” Cizek said. Akas’s jaw dropped in disbelief. “We targeted the headquarters building of the Iraqi and American forces.”

“You what? Bombed their headquarters?” Akas shouted. “You are insane, both of you. Is Phoenix dead?”

“No, he was not in the building at the time,” Hirsiz said.

“Lucky for you!”

“I did not start shooting at Iraqis and Americans until they started shooting at Turks!” Hirsiz shouted. “I did not start this war! The PKK murders innocent men, women, and children, and no one says a word to us. Well, they will talk to us now, won’t they? They will scream and complain and threaten me! I don’t care! I am not going to stop until Iraq stops harboring the PKK and promises to help eradicate them. Maybe with a few dead Americans in Iraq by our hands, they will talk to us about destroying the PKK.”

Akas looked at Hirsiz as if studying an oil painting or an animal in the zoo, trying to find some hidden understanding or meaning in what she saw. All she could discern was hatred. He didn’t even look back at her. “How many Americans were killed in the base, Minister?”

“Twenty or twenty-five, I don’t remember; about a hundred injured,” Cizek replied.

“My God…”

“Ays¸e, maybe it is a good idea for you to meet with Phoenix and talk with Gardner,” Cizek said. Hirsiz turned, his eyes wide with surprise and his jaw set in anger. Cizek held up a hand. “Kurzat, I’m afraid the Americans will retaliate—maybe not militarily, not right away, but with every other means at their disposal. If we don’t start negotiating with them, they’re more likely to hit back. Call a cease-fire, have our forces hold in position, and let Ays¸e go to Baghdad. Meanwhile we’ll resupply our forces, bring back our wounded and dead, and start collecting intelligence on the whereabouts of the PKK and their supporters. We have to be sure we don’t lose support from our allies, but we don’t have to give up everything we’ve gained.”

Hirsiz’s expression was a mixture of rage and confusion, and his head snapped back at his two advisers as if it were out of control. “End? End now? Are we any closer to destroying the PKK than we were five thousand lives ago? If we don’t follow through with this, the five thousand soldiers who have lost their lives will have died for nothing.”

“I think we have shown the world our crisis, Kurzat,” Akas said. “You have also shown the world, and especially the PKK and their Kurdish supporters, that Turkey can and will lash out to protect its people and interests. But if you let the situation spin out of control, the world will simply think you’re insane. You don’t want that to happen.”

Hirsiz studied both of his advisers. Akas could see the president looking more and more alone by the second. He returned to his desk and sat down heavily, staring through the large picture window. The sun was just coming up, and it looked like it was going to be a cold, drizzly day, Akas thought, which certainly must make Hirsiz feel even more alone.

“All I tried to do was protect the Turkish people,” he said softly. “All I wanted to do was stop the murdering.”

“We will, Kurzat,” Akas said. “We’ll do it together—your cabinet, the military, the Americans, and the Iraqis. We’ll get everyone involved. You don’t have to do it alone.”

Hirsiz closed his eyes, then nodded. “Call an immediate cease-fire, Hasan,” he said. “We have the phased withdrawal plan already drawn up: execute phases one and two.”

The minister of national defense’s mouth dropped open in surprise. “Phase two?” he asked. “But, sir, that pulls troops all the way back to the border. Are you sure you want to pull back that much? I recommend we—”

“Ays¸e, you may notify the foreign minister that we wish to meet with the Americans and Iraqis right away to negotiate international inspectors and peacekeepers to monitor the border,” Hirsiz went on. “You may also notify the speaker of the National Assembly that, pending a peaceful and successful withdrawal from Iraq, I will cancel the state of emergency and reseat the parliament.”

Ays¸e Akas walked over to Hirsiz and hugged him. “You’ve made the right choice, Kurzat,” she said. “I’ll get to work right away.” She gave Cizek a smile and hurried out of the president’s office.