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| Iraq |
| Turkish FM: Cross-border attack on Kurdish rebels would not be an invasion |
| 2007-11-02 |
| Turkey's foreign minister said Thursday that any incursion by Turkish forces into Iraq would target Kurdish guerrilla fighters and their bases and "would not be an invasion." Ali Babacan said an upcoming meeting Monday between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US President George W. Bush "will determine the steps that Turkey would take." But if Turkey sends its troops into Iraq, "any cross-border attack would be aimed at hitting terrorist bases and would not be an invasion," he said. Still, he indicated growing frustration with the government of the semiautonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq, accusing it of inaction against the rebels, who stage attacks on Turkey. "We have doubts about the sincerity of the administration in northern Iraq in the struggle against the terrorist organization," Babacan said. "We want to see solid steps - we hope our point of contacts understand the seriousness of this job." He also said some economic measures aimed at rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, in northern Iraq have already been put in place, and Turkey is also considering stopping flights to the region. "They are carefully evaluated and aimed at the economic resources of the terrorist organization and those who give support to it, and some measures have already been put in place," Babacan said. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #6 Compare wid IRANIAN.WS > IRAN: FROM ARYANISM TO PAN-TURKISM. Iran going the way of Turkey, or is Turkey going the way of Iran??? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2007-11-02 23:07 |
| #5 If it were Springtime in northern Iraq I would be somewhat concerned. Not extremely concerned, just somewhat concerned. It is not Springtime. Therefore I am not concerned. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2007-11-02 14:49 |
| #4 I did not have sex with that woman....... |
| Posted by: BJClintoon 2007-11-02 14:15 |
| #3 Technically correct: if you don't stay, it's an "incursion"... |
| Posted by: mojo 2007-11-02 10:33 |
| #2 Who knows? Murders of Turks by PKK have been going on a long time and from what I can tell are generating serious outrage and fear among many Turkish voters. The fact that Talabani and whatsizface haven't curbed the PKK is read throughout Turkey as an indication that their worst fears about Kurdish power are happening in front of their eyes. The Turks hurt us badly in 2003 and I have neither forgiven nor forgotten that. But I have my eye on the larger prize and to get there we need continued access to Incirlik for a while and to settle the PKK situation sufficiently to calm things down for a while. The Kurds will not have an independent state that is viable, I think. The geography mitigates against it - Turkey controls the water flows into the region and the Kurds would need some way to get oil out to market. The best they can realistically hope for is a fair degree of autonomy, which is what they've had to one degree or another for over a decade now. The price for that autonomy is to rein in the PKK. If they won't do it someone is going to do it themselves, on terms the Kurds and we won't like. JMNSHO |
| Posted by: lotp 2007-11-02 06:36 |
| #1 Just an initial start to the restoration of the Ottoman empire? |
| Posted by: 3dc 2007-11-02 01:21 |