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| Iraq |
| Turkish parliament OKs N. Iraq incursion request: report |
| 2007-10-17 |
| Turkey's parliament approved by a large majority on Wednesday a government request to allow troops to cross into northern Iraq to crush Kurdish rebels based there, Reuters reported. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has played down expectations of an imminent offensive, but the parliamentary approval provides the legal basis for NATO's second biggest army to cross the mountainous border as and when it sees fit, the report said. Turkey has been building up pressure against the separatist Kurdish Workers' Party, or PKK, since June, but the parliamentary approval enables it to carry out major operations for one-year period. The United States and the European Union have both asked Turkey to exercise self-restraint. At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. President George W. Bush said it was not in Turkey's interest to send troops into Iraq. "We are making it very clear to Turkey that we don't think it is in their interests to send troops into Iraq," Bush said. "Actually, they have troops already stationed in Iraq. And they've had troops stationed there for quite a while. We don't think it's in their interests to send more troops in," he added. Northern Iraq, which is predominantly Kurdish, has been a haven of peace compared to the rest of Iraq, which has been ravaged by four years of war. CNN said Iraqi officials have denied that the PKK was using Iraqi territory to stage attacks against Turkey and warned that as many as 30,000 people could be forced to leave villages near the frontier. In the past, Turkey has sent troops to northern Iraq for a number of occasions to fight Turkish Kurds seeking safe haven there. |
| Posted by:anonymous5089 |
| #5 TOPIX > Turkish forces are authorized to conduct cross-border strikes/operations agz Kurds for up to one year. * TOWNHALL > WHY DOES A CLOSE ALLY OF THE US DENY ITS OWN GENOCIDE [slaughter of up to 1.5Milyuhn Armenian Xtians]. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2007-10-17 22:37 |
| #4 Posturing for home consumption, Besoeker? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-10-17 20:56 |
| #3 My assessment, for wat it's worth.... maybe some rockets or arty fired, possibly some small raids, nothing more. Winter is coming and they have learned well the Russian lesson in Afghanistan. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2007-10-17 19:42 |
| #2 link HUNDREDS of Turkish soldiers are already based in northern Iraq at four camps that have been there for a decade, Iraqi Kurdish officials said overnight as Ankara mulled a possible military incursion. The camps were set up east of the border town of Zakho, about 30km inside Iraq, as part of an agreement between the Turks and the party of Kurdish regional president Massoud Barzani. "There have been four bases in Iraqi Kurdistan since 1997," an official from Iraq's autonomous Kurdish government said on condition of anonymity. At the time, Turkish troops had lent their support to Mr Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party which was fighting the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, led by Jalal Talabani. Mr Barzani is now president of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, while Mr Talabani is president of Iraq. According to the Kurdish Regional Government, at least 600 Turkish soldiers are stationed in Iraqi Kurdistan, supported by 150 armoured vehicles including tanks. In addition to Bamerni, the three other camps are based at Amerli, Kanimesi and Chiladeza. Local inhabitants, however, estimate that as many as 1500 Turkish soldiers could be in the region, north-east of the Iraqi Kurd town of Dohuk. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-10-17 19:36 |
| #1 Pucker up time. Question, how will the dhimmicrats spin this one? |
| Posted by: Icerigger 2007-10-17 14:28 |