London: Turkey's newly elected government is prepared to turn its back on its long-standing alliance with the United States to counter the threat of Kurdish terrorism, one of the closest allies of the Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has warned. Egemen Bagis, Mr. Erdogan's foreign policy advisor, said Turkish forces were prepared to mount operations against Kurdish PKK fighters who had taken refuge in Iraq, because the United States had failed to intervene."We are hoping we will not have to do it. We are hoping that our allies will start doing something, but if they don't we don't have many options," he said. "Our allies should help us with the threat, which is clear and present. If an ally is not helping you, you either question their integrity or their ability."
A decision to sanction military action might also help to avert a potential clash between the new government and Turkey's powerful army, which is unhappy with what it regards as creeping Islamisation.
Turkey's generals want to go after the Kurdish groups because of a sudden upsurge in attacks, many from across the Iraqi border, and there has been a steady Turkish military build-up on the frontier between the two countries.
Mr. Bagis said the United States must appreciate that Turkey was prepared to go into Iraq, even if such a move put it on collision course with Washington, which is desperate not to meddle in the Kurdish part of Iraq, regarded as the most stable region of the country. "We would not hesitate for a second and we would not ask anyone's permission," he said.
Washington has made clear to the Turkish government that any military incursion would be unacceptable, but the Turks are in no mood for compromise.
| Are they in the mood for a good drubbing? Peshmerga milita with some US air power: not sure the Turks could take 'em. |
More than 40,000 Turks have died in the 30-year-old war with the PKK and 76 soldiers have been killed this year alone, the latest in a clash in northeast Turkey on Friday. Mourners have shouted anti-U.S. slogans at recent funerals.
"We are telling our allies that their image is going down," Mr. Bagis said. "Support for U.S. foreign policy in Turkey is at an all- time low. "The U.S. and the U.K. must understand that you guys took extra measures in the aftermath of 9/11 and the London bombs and we have lost many more lives."
Nejat Eslen, a retired general, said the military was losing patience with its American allies. "The U.S. crossed the Atlantic in the name of fighting terror in Iraq and Afghanistan. Turkey is helping the U.S. in Afghanistan. And yet it doesn't allow Turkey, a NATO ally, to cross its own border for the same reasons. What sort of a friendship is this? This is how enemies behave."
| No question we should thump the PKK on the Iraqi side, and the Iraqi Kurds need an education on this point. Turks need to understand that we have multiple fish frying, and they have to wait their turn. |