Turkey Attacks Kurdish PKK Militants Inside Iraq (Update1)

[Flabbergasted]

Source: Bloomberg

Turkey Attacks Kurdish PKK Militants Inside Iraq (Update1)

By Mark Bentley and Ali Berat Meric

Oct. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Turkey bombed units of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, in northern Iraq and sent troops across the border in pursuit of the militants, a lawmaker of Turkey's governing party said today.

Turkish military jets and artillery pounded rebel positions inside the Kurdish-controlled region intermittently, said the lawmaker, who attended a briefing on the hostilities by government spokesman Cemil Cicek late yesterday in Ankara.

The army sent troops across the border with Iraq to hunt down PKK militants after 12 Turkish soldiers were killed by the group on Oct. 21 in Turkey, the official said. They later returned to the Turkish side of the border, he added.

Turkey's parliament on Oct. 17 passed a resolution authorizing the government to send troops into northern Iraq to attack PKK bases there. The U.S. opposes such action on concern it would destabilize the calmest part of Iraq.

Turkey's main index of stocks fell 1.4 percent to 54,953.21 at 10:40 a.m. in Istanbul. The lira declined 0.3 percent to 1.218. Shares and the lira both rose yesterday on hopes for a diplomatic solution to the conflict. Crude oil rebounded, rising as much as 15 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $83 a barrel on London's ICE Futures Europe exchange.



Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a7IqZa7FIRwY&refer=home

[Lasher]

1. OK here we go.

I was afraid this would happen. The Turks went back across the border so maybe it won't get too bad.

[ohio2007]

5. here we go again. This isn't the first time Turkey entered Iraq chasing PKK

several times they crossed over in the past couple decades.

[xchrom]

2. oh this is gonna get interesting...

:popcorn:

[Flabbergasted]

14. If Turkey sets a timetable and gets out quickly then things

may work out fine....

[Old and In the Way]

3. So who will the Decider Guy piss off? The Kurds or the Turks?

Kind of a royal "new win" situation for us. I just hope we come to our senses and get our troops out of there soon. We really need to impeach this administration before they can do any further damage.

[ohio2007]

6. Looks like it will be the PKK

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3040895&mesg_id=3040895
Iran also has issues with the PKK

[progpen]

12. If history is any indicator...

AWOL will piss on the Kurds graves.

[Teaser]

4. Shit, Fan, why don't you two shake hands

.

[Flabbergasted]

13. Nice. Lol

[antiimperialist]

7. Why doesn't Bloomberg call it an invasion?

Turkey just invaded Iraq. If Mexico or Canada crossed the border to bomb the Californians or the New Yorkers, would the media work its way around the word invasion?

[lovuian]

8. I hope our troops are safe??? and I guess those pipelines

are going to be blown up too

[Flabbergasted]

21. I suspect they'll use them as leverage in case Turkey imposes border sanctions.

The kurds are in trouble if the border gets shut down.

[Jacobin]

9. What will be left of Iraq after everyone keeps bombing it?

So sad.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

10. Turkey confirms Iraq raids, boosts troops on border

IZRE, Turkey (Reuters) - Turkish warplanes and troops attacked Kurdish rebels inside Iraq this week, security sources said on Wednesday, but Ankara wants to hold back from any major incursion for now to give diplomacy a chance.

Turkey moved more troops to the mountainous border, keeping up pressure on Baghdad to honor promises to crack down on an estimated 3,000 rebels of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) who use the region as a base.

Security sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed a series of sorties between Sunday and Tuesday evening in which Turkish warplanes flew 20 km (13 miles) into Iraq and some 300 ground troops advanced about 10 km.

"Further 'hot pursuit' raids into northern Iraq can be expected, though none have taken place so far today (Wednesday)," a military official said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSL1354608620071024

[Supersedeas]

11. Paging our self-proclaimed Soviet expert, paging Dr. Rice, dipomacy check

Competency check

[ohio2007]

16. Just because the PKK are a communist party doesn't mean they are suppoerted by

the ex Soviet republic of Russia........... ;) but ya never know....

[Ilsa]

15. Sadly Ironic.

[Eugene]

17. Turkey showing "remarkable restraint" - NATO chief

Source: Reuters

Turkey showing "remarkable restraint" - NATO chief
24 Oct 2007 16:29:26 GMT
Source: Reuters

NOORDWIJK, Netherlands, Oct 24 (Reuters) - NATO
Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer hailed Turkey
on Wednesday for showing "remarkable restraint" so
far in its efforts to tackle Kurdish rebels in Iraq.

De Hoop Scheffer was speaking after security services
said that Turkish warplanes and troops attacked Kurdish
rebels inside Iraq this week. Ankara insists it wants
to hold back from any major incursion for now to give
diplomacy a chance.

"If I look at the Turkish goverment as it has acted up
till now I think the Turkish government is showing
restraint -- remarkable restraint under present
circumstances," de Hoop Scheffer told reporters at a
meeting of NATO defence ministers in the Dutch coastal
resort of Noordwijk.

He said Turkish Defence Minister Vecdi Gonul had briefed
his NATO counterparts on the situation during the talks
and that "the allies expressed full solidarity for Turkey".

-snip-

Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L24439475.htm

[Flabbergasted]

18. Update 3: Turkish Army Bombs PKK's Iraq Positions; U.S. Urges Restraint

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=axN3AZnsbR3M&refer=home

Turkish Army Bombs PKK's Iraq Positions; U.S. Urges Restraint

By Mark Bentley and Roger Runningen

Oct. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Turkey's military attacked Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq today, as the U.S. urged restraint from both sides in the conflict.

Turkish F-16 jets and helicopters strafed positions along the Iraqi border, the state-run Anatolia news agency in Ankara said, in a fourth day of fighting. Soldiers on the Turkish side located PKK hideouts, seizing weapons and supplies.

Turkey has vowed a military incursion into northern Iraq to end the threat posed to its security by the PKK. The Kurdistan Workers' Party is designated a terrorist group by the U.S. and European Union. The U.S. has warned Turkey against mounting a full-scale military assault, saying it will destabilize the calmest part of Iraq.

``We are concerned about the continuing skirmishes,'' White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters in Washington today. ``We continue to urge both sides to exercise restraint.''

Turkish F-16 fighter planes were spotted over the northern Iraqi town of Dohuk, about 60 kilometers (37 miles) from the border, as they embarked on bombing runs against the militants, the CNN Turk television said, citing eye witnesses.

The PKK has fought the Turkish military at the cost of almost 40,000 lives, most of them Kurdish. Turkey's parliament on Oct. 17 passed a resolution authorizing the government to send troops into Iraq to attack PKK positions there.

Turkish jets and artillery had pounded at least 63 suspected rebel positions inside the Kurdish-controlled region from Oct. 21 until yesterday, a Turkish lawmaker said.

Turkish Commandos

The army sent 300 commandos into Iraq by helicopter on Oct. 21 to hunt down PKK fighters after 12 soldiers were killed by the group the same day, the official said. The attack on PKK bases up to 40 kilometers (25 miles) into Iraq lasted about 28 hours before troops returned to the Turkish side, he added.

``These military operations will continue and perhaps the Turks will start economic sanctions against Iraq too,'' said Wolfango Piccoli, a political risk analyst at Eurasia Group in London. ``The government really needs to do something more substantial to satisfy public opinion.''

About 80,000 Turkish troops are now lined up along the border with Iraq, the lawmaker said.

PKK militants have killed 42 Turkish soldiers and civilians this month. Tens of thousands of Turks protested in cities across the country this week, calling for an immediate military incursion into Iraq and chanting anti-PKK slogans.

Turkey killed one PKK fighter in the province of Malatya yesterday and found a cache of weapons including rocket launchers and plastic explosives in Hakkari, adjacent to the border with Iraq, the army said on its Web site today.

[HuffleClaw]

19. now had it been IRAN, the B2's would be enroute

but the fact is turkey is only doing exactly what bush wants. how DARE the kurds decide the oil beneath their feet belongs to them!

[Flabbergasted]

20. It's also what Iran and Syria want....

I'm not sure what Bush is thinking or if it is what they want. It may be something they just need to tolerate.