Parliament in Turkey Approves Iraq Incursion

[struggle4progress]

Source: NYT

By SEBNEM ARSU and SABRINA TAVERNISE
Published: October 18, 2007

ISTANBUL, Oct. 17 — Turkey’s Parliament voted to give the government authority to send troops into northern Iraq today, moving this NATO country one step closer to a military confrontation with Iraq over Kurdish rebels who hide there.

Turkish lawmakers voted 507 to 19 in favor of the motion, which was supported by all but one of Turkey’s political parties and seemed to broadly reflect the wishes of the Turkish public. It gives the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan a year in which to launch offensives against Kurdish separatists who carry out attacks in Turkey from hideouts in Iraq. They want to establish an autonomous Kurdish region in eastern Turkey.

“After so many incidents, we’re at a point that our patience has run out,” said Cemil Cicek, a government spokesman and a member of a special council on terrorism, speaking in the parliamentary chamber.

But even as the Parliament voted, officials in several different countries were working strenuously to avert military action, and Turkish officials said that motion’s passage did not necessarily mean it would be applied ...

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/18/world/europe/18turkey.html?em&ex=1192766400&en=779a962b0be193f4&ei=5087%0A

[TomInTib]

1. Looks as tho they are using the US Model.

"Just gimme the power. Not that I'll ever use it. But you never know..."

[John Q. Citizen]

2. I don't see the parallels. Sharing a boarder where fighters cross over and attack your

troops on a regular basis is different than what happened here.

[struggle4progress]

3. Turkey eyes northern Iraqi oil (BBC Jan 03)

Tuesday, 7 January, 2003, 13:21 GMT
Turkey eyes northern Iraqi oil

Turkey is examining old international treaties to determine what rights it has over oil fields in northern Iraq.

"If we do have rights... we have to explain that to the international community and our partners and secure those rights," foreign minister Yasar Yakis said in the mass-circulation Turkish daily Hurriyet ...

"This is a sensitive issue for us. We are discussing it with the United States. They say every time that they understand our worries and share our views," Mr Yakis was quoted as saying.

He said treaties from the 1920s, following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, were being examined to see if Turkey had a legal claim to oilfields around the northern cities of Mosul and Kirkuk ...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2635043.stm

[struggle4progress]

4. The Armenian Genocide Bill & the Turkish Reaction in Iraq (CSIS: Oct 07)

By Anthony H. Cordesman, Arleigh Burke Chair in Strategy
October 15, 2007
... It is far from clear what Turkey will or will not do in Iraq ... Some Turkish officers -- mostly retired –- have talked recklessly about going deep into Iraq territory, and a few have talked about going to Mosul and the Kirkuk oil fields ...
http://www.csis.org/component/option,com_csis_progj/task,view/id,1099/
via http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=121934

[John Q. Citizen]

5. I am not taking Turkey's position on this. I was only pointing out that

the situation is far different than our situation was vis a vis Iraq.

I realize there is also an economic incentive from Turkey's point of view.

If we go back 5 years to before our invasion, how many in Turkey were seriously considering sending troops into Northern Iraq? The oil was there then too.

It's a mess and I don't advocate for Turkey to send in troops. I'm just saying that I don't think the comparison between the IWR here and the vote in Turkey was a very good comparison.

And hey, I like TominTib's post usually, I'm generally in agreement with what he writes.

[struggle4progress]

6. Dunno but maybe some Turkish factions view the PKK as a pretext for an oil grab

[John Q. Citizen]

7. Yeah, but are we going to let them steal our oil?

[azurnoir]

8. If we go back 9 years before our invasion

we find Turkey sent 50,000 troops into Northern Iraq (Kurdistan) in 1994

http://www.flashpoints.info/countries-conflicts/Turkey-Kurdistan-web/Turkey-Kurdistan_briefing.html

all we ever heard about was Saddam

[John Q. Citizen]

9. Interesting history we didn't know much about there. Thanks for posting that.

[CTuttle]

10. Turkey Lawmakers OK Possible Iraq Attack

Source: Guardian

Turkey Lawmakers OK Possible Iraq Attack


Thursday October 18, 2007 6:46 AM

By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA

Associated Press Writer

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) - Parliament authorized the government Wednesday to send troops into northern Iraq to root out Kurdish rebels who've been conducting raids into Turkey. The vote removed the last legal obstacle to an offensive, but there was no sign of imminent action as the United States urged restraint.

Turkish leaders, under pressure from Washington and Baghdad, have signaled they would not immediately give the order to send in 60,000 soldiers, armor and attack helicopters into a region that has largely escaped the chaos of the Iraq war.

The crisis along the border, where the Turkish troops have massed since summer, has driven up oil prices along with tensions between Turkey and its longtime NATO ally, the United States.

President Bush said the U.S. was making clear to Turkey that it should not stage a major army operation in the Iraqi north, much of which has escaped the sustained violence and political discord common in the rest of Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

Bush said Turkey has had troops stationed in northern Iraq ``for quite a while,'' a reference to about 1,500 soldiers deployed for years to monitor the rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, with the permission of Iraqi Kurd authorities.

``We don't think it's in their interest to send more troops in,'' he said.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-7005160,00.html

[Supersedeas]

11. tap-tap-tap calling Dr. Condi....anyone in there....Dr. Condi, you there?

[bdamomma]

12. condi will do nothing.