Turkey Plans To Invade Northern Iraq

[Truth2Tell]

Source: The Post Chronicle

The Turkish military said it is setting the ground work for a large-scale ground invasion into northern Iraq targeting the Kurdistan Workers' Party.

The military said the ground operation is the final strike against the Kurdistan Workers' Party, known by its Kurdish language initials of PKK. The operation follows airstrikes on the group in late 2007 and military officials said the operation is scheduled for mid-March, the English language Turkish daily, Today's Zaman said Monday.

Military sources told the newspaper that the operation would be on two fronts; one along the Turkish border with Iraq and one inside Turkey in its southeastern provinces.

Israel gave the Turkish military unmanned surveillance drones that military officials said will provide key intelligence about PKK activity.

Read more: http://www.postchronicle.com/news/breakingnews/article_212131225.shtml

---

Game on.

[Ian David]

1. Here's a better link: Turkey Plans To Invade Northern Iraq

Turkey Plans To Invade Northern Iraq
UPI | February 18, 2008 03:08
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/02/18/turkey-plans-to-invade-no_n_87227.html

[underpants]

2. Well NO ONE could have seen THAT coming

[burythehatchet]

20. Condi, zat you?

[robcon]

3. What a load of crap,

consider the source.

[Truth2Tell]

6. Consider the source. UPI? nt

[pegleg]

9. Rev. Moon's news service

[Truth2Tell]

10. My bad. Yer right.

Although just because Moon and Murdoch have been hyping this Turkish threat doesn't mean that something isn't up. We just have to read between the lines to figure out what it ACTUALLY is. Not that I know.

[Deny and Shred]

4. Upon invasion, Bush specifically vowed to protect Iraq's borders

One more lie.

[truthisfreedom]

5. *raised eyebrows* So, how does this work? How does bushco let this happen

after all of the promises they've made?

[Truth2Tell]

7. We've abandoned the Kurds so many times before.

I'd imagine we've got a blueprint handy.

[AlertLurker]

8. Turkey may shortly have too much on its plate to invade N. Iraq.

If South Ossetia and Abkhazia break away from Georgia, there may be a lot more instability in the Caucasus areas immediately to the north Of Turkey...

[JerseygirlCT]

11. So let me get this straight

**The only place in Iraq that has managed to climb out from under our huge clusterf*ck is the Kurdish area.

**Turkey is supposed be our ally.

**We've apparently been talking to them top-secret about *nuclear* technology. (!)

**They're about to go screw up the one part of Iraq we hadn't successfully screwed beyond repair.

Is that right?

And why????

[Truth2Tell]

13. Maybe not everyone wants

the Kurds "out from under our huge cluster...?"

Maybe the oil fields of Kirkuk are more manageable as part of a cluster...

:shrug:

[Alameda]

16. Have you ever heard of the PKK?

who have been mounting attacks into Turkey from "Kurdistan"?

[JerseygirlCT]

17. Yes, but I'm always skeptical about that

And just where the fault lies in that situation. In fact, I would think that a stable Kurdish area in Iraq might cool things down and attract other Kurds there and away from the Turkish Kurdish areas, where they're not happy with their treatment...

In any event, diplomacy is what's needed, not more war. That much I know for sure.

[Alameda]

18. Have you seen this?

Perhaps it will ahed some light on the situation.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=359x437

[ananda]

12. Oh dear.

This is bad.

[cascadiance]

14. I wonder if this is why Mukasey, Cheney, and other officials are making secret visits there!

Sounds like planning the invasion of Northern Cyprus that we helped with all over again (which we recently released publicly we did in the early 70's, not long after I left there).

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=2890317&mesg_id=2890317

[Orrin_73]

15. If it wasn't for the Turkish army

there would not be any Turks left in Cyprus.
calipendence dont you have anything else to do then bash Turkey, Turks and everything that has to do with Turks?

[cascadiance]

19. My Armenian friend here laughed at what you just said here...

He knows me as we have MANY arguments where I take the sides of Turks. To say that I'm a "Turk" basher I think is unfair. If someone came and accused Bush and his administration of doing many wrong things, I don't think I'd call them an American basher either. I'd measure how they critiqued us to see if they were blanket accusations or if they were focused on certain people.

Fact was, according to recent CIA releases of information, there was an American effort in early 70's to arm Turkey to help them invade Cyprus. Now I'm not judging whether the invasion was right or wrong. I think there could be arguments made either way, but I don't think it was the U.S.'s war to fight. We should have stayed out. It's that sort of thing that gets us also in trouble in Israel as well, if we get too much perceived as purposefully helping Israel oppress the Palestinians.

I also contended to my Armenian friend that it was a pretty unfair vote the way the European Union had both North and Southern Cyprus vote on unification as a requirement to become part of the European Union. Northern Cyprus voted for it, and Southern Cyprus voted against it. And they took in Southern Cyprus and left out Northern Cyprus. I thought that was pretty unfair to Northern Cypriots given that by the way things turned out, it appeared to be completely rigged against them.

[Truth2Tell]

21. It's certainly not "bashing Turks"

to acknowledge the reality of what Turkey has done to the Kurds. It may not match up to the Armenian genocide but it certainly involves plenty of ethnic cleansing, brutality, torture, cultural destruction and wholesale abuse.

One person's terrorist is another's freedom fighter. Turkey has the same habit the U.S. and Israel do - of labeling anyone or any group that stands up to them "terrorists." Maybe that's why we all get along so well - and why the Kurds are likely in for more abuse at our hands.

[cascadiance]

22. In addition to the secret meetings with U.S. officials, Turks are now meeting with EU as well...

Perhaps these secret meetings in this thread yesterday were talking heavily on a planned invasion of Northern Iraq to go after the Kurds there...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=2890317&mesg_id=2890317

Not it would seem that the Turks are also meeting with the EU for the first time ever (according to the report) to discuss problems with terrorism, and how to deal with the PKK and the DHKP/C (a Turkish marxist revolutionary organization). I wonder if they are trying to get blessing for such an invasion from the EU as well...

From:

http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=134470&bolum=102

Turkey and EU meet in Brussels on terrorism

Turkey and the European Commission held their first ever meeting yesterday in Brussels on terror, justice and home affairs in the wake of increased Turkish complaints leveled against some European countries over what Ankara termed as indifference to Ankara's terror problem, which stems mainly from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Turkey and the EU have been holding talks on terror related issues under the Association Partnership agreement that Ankara signed back in 1963 with the union.

In addition, Turkey and the individual EU member countries have been holding bilateral talks on how to address the differences existing between the judicial systems of both sides that contradict with each other, particularly in the definition of terror organizations.

But in the wake of the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the United States, Europe has also increasingly been a target of al-Qaeda related terrorist bombing incidents along with Turkey.

This prompted the EU to add the PKK to its list of groups branded as terrorists as well as the outlawed Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C), a Turkish Marxist revolutionary organization, in 2002, bringing its policy into line with the US’ terrorist blacklist.

This meant, among other things, that any assets the PKK has in Europe could be frozen.

...