Turkey Prepares to Invade Iraq
international |
anti-war / imperialism |
other press 
Thursday July 20, 2006 00:46
by redjade
Whatever you think - do not think there is any comparison to be made between Israel and Turkey....
Turkish officials signaled Tuesday they are prepared to send the army into northern Iraq if U.S. and Iraqi forces do not take steps to combat Turkish Kurdish guerrillas there _ a move that could put Turkey on a collision course with the United States.
Turkey is facing increasing domestic pressure to act after 15 soldiers, police and guards were killed fighting the guerrillas in southeastern Turkey in the past week.
"The government is really in a bind," said Seyfi Tashan, director of the Foreign Policy Institute at Bilkent University in Ankara. "On the one hand, they don't want things to break down with the United States. On the other hand, the public is crying for action."
[....]
The Western diplomat said the Turkish military long has had plans for fighting guerrillas in northern Iraq. These range from limited artillery and airstrikes on guerrilla bases, to attacks by commando forces and a broader ground offensive.
American officials, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, have repeatedly warned Turkey against entering northern Iraq, one of the few stable areas of the country.
U.S. Ambassador Ross Wilson said Turkish, Iraqi and U.S. cooperation is a "more sensible way to go forward than perhaps to ... try to do it unilaterally."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20....html
Comments (8 of 8)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8from the Guardian / UK:
The Bush administration, backed by Britain, has blocked efforts for an immediate halt to the fighting initiated at the UN security council, the G8 summit in St Petersburg and the European foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels.
"It's clear the Americans have given the Israelis the green light. They [the Israeli attacks] will be allowed to go on longer, perhaps for another week," a senior European official said yesterday. Diplomatic sources said there was a clear time limit, partly dictated by fears that a prolonged conflict could spin out of control.
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0719-09.htm
I would not be shocked if Turkey invaded. In the past they have bombed the Kurdish areas of Iraq. During the Iraq / Iran War the Turks did so with the connivance of Saddam.
I don't think the Turks will - although according to the logic of Bush and Israel they certainly have the right to.
But I doubt the Turks will do much more than rattle their cage. They want to be in the EU, to do so they need to stop doing anything that smells like ethnic war.
In short, the EU has its leash on the Turks regarding the Kurds.
(maybe this is not a bad thing, tho)
I'll write more about this later - but I think what we may also be seeing is the fruits of frustration of Turkey with the US - arming and training Kurdish terrorists (MEK) for war with Iran which may also be BlowBacking into Turkey.
http://www.thenewanatolian.com/opinion-11152.html
In the past during Saddam Hussein's rule Turkey did this several times with the blessing of the Iraqi Kurds. As a matter of fact even today Turkey has a military contingency of about 1,300 soldiers in Iraqi Kurdistan which the local government says "are our guests." Turkey maintains these forces in the Iraqi Kurdish region "to monitor the PKK…"
Israel launched airstrikes on Lebanon in response to attacks by Hizbullah earlier this month, and George W. Bush called it "self-defense." But what to tell the Turks, who over the last week lost 15 soldiers to terror attacks launched by sepa-ratist Kurds from neighboring Iraq? Many Turkish leaders are pressing for cross-border tactical air assaults on the guerrillas. But Bush, fearing yet another escalation of the Middle East's violence, urged Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to hold off. "The message was, unilateral action isn't going to be helpful," says a senior U.S. official, describing the 15-minute phone conversation. "The president asked for patience."
[....]
The Turkish press has been baying for action, with even the solidly pro-American Turkish Daily News railing in an editorial that "Turkey is no banana republic that can leave its security to the mercy of others." Another editorial posed the question more directly. "Why is it that Israel has the right to 'self-defense'," the paper asked, "and not Turkey."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13990129/site/newsweek/
redjade note: ive seen a lot of speculation on CNN Intl and BBC World in the past few days that Turkey troops will be used as peacekeepers between Hezbollah and the IDF.
The reasons stated against this idea were simplistic and vaguely racist - that the Turks wouldn't be good for the operation because 'they're Sunni' and the Hezbollah are Shia. One of the TV-experts called the Turks 'Sunni Arabs!' None of the so-called experts on TV (that i saw) mentioned this story.
TURKEY: US Ambassador To Turkey Says Washington Working To Resolve PKK Issue
2006-07-26 13:22:37
US Ambassador to Ankara Ross Wilson says Turkey and the United States are co-operating closely in the fight against Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorists. "I assure you that the United States is working for more effective measures in dealing with the PKK," the Anatolia news agency quoted Wilson as saying during a Turkish-US business forum in Ankara.
http://www.seeurope.net/en/Story.php?StoryID=62150&LangID=1
TURKEY could take part in an international stability force in Lebanon if a ceasefire is established and both Israel and Lebanon approve such a mission, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said overnight.
"We, as Turkey, will not take part unless a complete ceasefire is put in place," Mr Erdogan said, the Anatolia news agency reported.
"Once a ceasefire has been established, then related parties, both Israel and Lebanon, must be consulted. If they say 'yes', then we would take part," he added.
more at
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,1995....html
redjade note: interesting, so what does Turkey get out of this deal?
Does a 'red light' for israel mean a 'green light' for the Turks to kill off some Kurds?
Turkey and Iran have dispatched tanks, artillery and thousands of troops to their frontiers with Iraq during the past few weeks in what appears to be a coordinated effort to disrupt the activities of Kurdish rebel bases.
Scores of Kurds have fled their homes in the northern frontier region after four days of shelling by the Iranian army. Local officials said Turkey had also fired a number of shells into Iraqi territory.
Some displaced families have pitched tents in the valleys behind Qandil Mountain, which straddles Iraq's rugged borders with Turkey and Iran. They told the Guardian yesterday that at least six villages had been abandoned and one person had died following a sustained artillery barrage by Iranian forces that appeared designed to flush out guerrillas linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), who have hideouts in Iraq.
[....]
The US is also to appoint a special envoy to find a solution to the PKK problem, but that may not be enough. Ilnur Chevik, editor of the New Anatolian newspaper in Ankara, said: "There is huge public pressure on the Turkish government to take action." But he doubted whether Turkish forces would mount a full-scale invasion."The build-up of troops is designed to say to the Americans and the Iraqis, the ball is in your court." Tehran was also taking advantage of the situation, he said, "to show Turkey that it was taking action against its shared enemy, while the US, Turkey's ally, has done nothing".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1852843,00.html
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redjade note: Where's the emdia about this?! More importantly, why is not George W Bush - defender of a Freeand Democratic Iraq NOT sending US Troops in to defend it?
The AXIS OF EVIL (Iran) is assauting Iraq and Bush stands by and does NOTHING.
Why?
Kurdish PKK fighters - Will Bush defend his Iraqi allies, or does he just defend Iraqi Shias?
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