Turkey Steps Things Up in Kurdistan?

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I have yet to find more details on this in English-language media, but newspapers today have reported that the Turkish Air Force has hit supposedly PKK positions in Northern Iraq. There was also mention of relatively large ground units that might have crossed the border, supposedly in pursuit of PKK militants.

Here is something from Yahoo:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070606/ap_on_re_mi_ea/turkey_iraq_26;_ylt=AsLYErL8RyfWlCSp6EFvIz_tfLkA
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070607/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_turkey_iraq_2;_ylt=Ai9bdkZQqeedUdmGwDvocKLtfLkA

Here is a short piece from the Turkish Daily News site:

Turkey denied a report Wednesday evening it launched a major incursion into northern Iraq to crush Kurdish terrorists, but a military source said troops had conducted a limited raid across the mountainous border. Rumors of an invasion have rattled financial markets amid growing Turkish anger over the activity of Turkish Kurdish terrorists using the mountains of northern Iraq as a refuge. "This cannot be called a cross-border operation, it is a limited operation," said the Turkish military source. He did not say how many troops were involved in the raid. Three Turkish officials described the operation as a "hot pursuit" raid that was limited in scope, and one of them said troops returned to their bases late Wednesday. Meanwhile a statement placed late Wednesday night on the official Web site of the Turkish military declared some areas in the Şırnak, Siirt and Hakkari provinces in southeastern border region with Iraq as "provisional security zones" and restricted entry into those areas.

Anyone has more information on this? It's been brewing for a long time now, but it could complicate things a lot.

 

I don't have any "serious" evidence but I can tell you something. Yesterday I applied for military service and they offered me to be a commando. So, if they want to make me a commando, it's certain that we'll go to war. (You'd understand it much better if you've seen my body)

[ June 07, 2007, 20:33: Message edited by: Dengo ]

 

As long as kurdish transnational ambition remains, the Kurds will be trouble. Turkey is not going to accept the PKK operating out of northern Iraq, or any other neighbouring country.
That said, no country would tolerate a terrorist safehaven, and that is what the semi-autonomous Kurdish regions are for the PKK, in a neighboring country - much less when it is under nominal control of a major ally that seemingly can't wrap it's mind about sensible security interests of their smaller allies.

The sabrerattering is aimed on (a) pressuring the US to push their kurdish proxies to crack down on the PKK, ot (b) else they do it themselves and cause a lot of damage and unrest in already ****ed up Iraq.

US negotiations with the Kurds will be difficult because the Kurds are split between the two clans, err, parties, Talabani’s PUK or Barzani’s KDP. Talabani is said to understand that Kurdistan will benefit from friendly relations with Turkey, wheras Barzani is said to support the PKKs more transnational goals.

And it is not as if it one couldn't forsee that happening in 2002 already. But no, "give war a chance!" folks said I feel soooooo vindicated

A typical Kurdish solution to the dilemma would be Talabani quietly allying with the Turks to eliminate Barzani's goons and the PKK - and the US eventually joining the Turks. That would probably be the least awful solution. Less damaging would be the US taking a role as a regional power and intemediary between the Turks and the Kurds. If they do that, it is likely they will screw up and that it will escalate anyway. The Kurds are volatile.

 

Here are some developments from the weekend: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6734905.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6737885.stm

The Turkish military has declared its "unshakable determination" to fight against terror and respond to attacks by Kurdish separatists. The pledge comes amid a major build-up of troops and tanks on the border with northern Iraq, where Ankara says the militants have bases.

On Thursday, several areas close to the border in south-eastern Turkey were declared "temporary security zones". Four soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in one of the zones overnight. At least five other people were injured when Kurdish guerrillas detonated the bomb near the town of Siirt.

Attacks by the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has been fighting for an ethnic homeland since 1984, have been increasing in recent weeks. Last month, a suicide bombing in Ankara, blamed on the group, killed eight civilians. In the latest statement on its website, the Turkish army's general staff vowed to fight the separatists and called on all Turks to work together "to resist in the face of these terrorist actions" which threatened national unity.

"The Turkish armed forces have an unshakable determination in fighting terrorism and it is a solid truth that it will give the necessary answer to such attacks," it said.

Correspondents say the army appears to be calling for popular rallies against the PKK of the kind that were staged last month in Turkey by secular opponents of the Turkish government. The military also criticised unnamed individuals and organisations, who it said used notions of democracy and freedom as a "screen" to defend the separatists' attacks. "The time has come to see the real nature of these incidents," it said.

Turkey's main human rights organisations condemned the statement as dangerous, saying it could incite violence and make a target out of activists who defend the PKK.

Troop build-up

Ankara believes around 4,000 PKK members are based in northern Iraq, from where they are able to mount cross-border attacks. Turkish troops have been on exercises in Cizre, near Iraq

The Turkish government has been frustrated by the reluctance of US and Iraq to crack down on the PKK, a group the US and EU brand as terrorists.

The BBC's Sarah Rainsford in Istanbul says Turkey has sent thousands of its troops to the border in response, officially to prevent the PKK from crossing. But there is much talk too of a possible major incursion into Iraq, our correspondent says. On Thursday, Turkey's most senior general, Gen Yasar Buyukanit, stressed he would not proceed with incursions without approval from parliament. The government, however, has said it would approve an operation if the general staff requests it.

Our correspondent says that although many Turks would argue such a move would be fully justified politically, most fear the military would be dragged into a quagmire.

Whilst a unilateral intervention might well win votes at the general election next month, our correspondent adds, analysts warn it would spell disaster for Turkey's relations with the US and EU in particular.

I have a weird feeling of deja vu looking at this. I must be going cynical.