Turkey (PM Erdogan) threatens Iraq incursion

[TexasLawyer]

Source: ABC Australia

Turkey threatens Iraq incursion

Turkey has warned that it could send troops into northern Iraq after today's general elections if talks with Iraqi and US officials fail to produce effective measures against Kurdish rebels based there.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he has invited his Iraqi counterpart, Nouri Al Maliki, to visit Ankara after the vote to discuss the presence of Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebels in northern Iraq.

Accusing Washington of failing to fulfill its pledge of curbing the PKK, Mr Erdogan says he will seek trilateral talks in order to resolve the problem. "We will ask them to take whatever steps are necessary or we will do whatever is necessary," he said.

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul says the country will not hesitate to act to eliminate the threat posed by the PKK, which both Ankara and Washington list as a terrorist organisation. "Our aim is not to enter Iraq but to neutralise the terrorist organisation," he said. "We will use our right as long as the terrorist organisation continues to harm Turkey."

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Read more: http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/07/22/1984733.htm?section=world

[TexasLawyer]

1. some analysis from today's Independent UK

The Turkish threat to invade puts the US in a difficult position. The Kurds are America's main supporter in Iraq. Turkey is also a long-term American strategic ally. "The US is telling the Turks not to come in," says Dr Mahmoud Othman, a veteran Kurdish leader. "But if there is a conflict between Turkey and the Kurds then the US will support Turkey." To try to avoid a war the US is pressing the KRG to act against the PKK.

After the election, the Turkish government may feel that it has no choice but to launch at least a limited incursion. The Iraqi Kurds are nervous about how far Turkish troops will advance and when they will retreat. If the invasion comes it will be difficult to keep Kurdish soldiers, who form the most reliable part of the Iraqi army, stationed in Baghdad.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2788616.ece

[cliss]

2. We are in over our heads.

Iraq is a hornet nest,filled with so many twists and turns, it just boggles the mind.

Look at this statement: "the PKK, which both Ankara and Washington list as a terrorist organisation. " And yet the Kurds are considered our friends in the area. And our friendship with the Kurds has caused BIG problems with Turkey. They have already been conducting limited incursions into Iraq.

We will never ever ever get this mess straightened out, no matter what we do. Time to get out.

[provis99]

3. sigh..

People, like me, predicted Turkey would eventually get involved. Even before Iraq was invaded, I, like the Greek Cassandra, was telling people that the Iraqi Kurds would set up a semi-independent region, help their brothers in Turkey, and the US would muck up the situation by supporting Iraqi Kurdish semi-sovereignty. Turkey would then get mad at Iraqi Kurdish support for Turkish Kurds, and likely invade northwestern Iraq, further destabilizing the region. Well, they laughed at me then, but like Cassandra, I have the misfortune of being right yet again.
I'm betting that plenty of other DU'ers saw this coming long ago too. Do you ever feel like you're beating your head against a brick wall?:banghead:

[IndianaGreen]

4. If Canada's government had allowed terrorists to stage raids inside the US

the clamor for retaliation would be deafening!

Turkey has bent over backwards with restraint. Kurdish terrorists based in Northern Iraq have killed hundreds of innocent Turks in cross-border raids. The US has done nothing! Our puppet regime in Iraq has done less!

And for those that will shed tears for the Kurds, forgetting that the oppressed often become the oppressors, the Turks that were killed by Kurdish terrorists were as innocent as those killed on WTC.