Iraq says Turkish military withdrawing

[onehandle]

Source: AP

BAGHDAD - The Turkish military has begun withdrawing from northern Iraq, Iraq's foreign minister said Friday, a day after the U.S. pressured Turkey to end the offensive against separatist Kurdish rebels.

"We welcome this move," Hoshyar Zebari told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "The timing is good. I think the military carried out its promises" to remove Turkish troops after finishing the operations.

Zebari said regional Iraqi authorities had informed him that the Turkish troops were leaving northern Iraq, and the Turkish military had targeted only the rebels, not civilians living in the remote region.

The foreign minister said he hoped Turkey "will respect the sovereignty of Iraq."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080229/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_turkey

[Deny and Shred]

1. I'm sure all the PKK/Turkey differences have been cleared up

Oh goody. Seriously, that was not the last of it. The Kurds want independence, including areas of Turkey inhabited predominantly by Kurds. Seeing Kosovo gain independence will only make them want it more.
The Bush Administration can throw their weight around, and ease some of these tensions when they boil over, they can pay the Awakening Councils, cut deals with various factions in Iraq, etc., but its still all a Band-Aid. These tensions aren't going away. Eventually, the payoffs stop. Its clear to me that BushCo is trying to run out the clock until January so they can blame the eventual problems on their Democratic successor.

[Robbien]

2. So Turkey is finished bombing and killing people in our occupied territory, now is it?

That's nice.