Kurdish rebels offer Turkey a truce

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Some good news for a change.

BAGHDAD — Kurdish separatists said Monday that they would stop their cross-border attacks on Turkish forces if the Ankara government dropped its threats to launch an offensive on their remote mountain enclaves in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Turkey, stung by a weekend raid by the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, that left at least 12 of its infantrymen dead, has begun sending troops to the border with Iraq's semiautonomous Kurdish region to prepare for a possible strike. Many fear such a move could destabilize the sole region of Iraq that has remained relatively peaceful since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.

"If the Turkish state stops the attacks, this escalating environment of tension will turn into a clash-free one," said a statement posted on a rebel website by the PKK. "Our movement and people have the strength to defend itself under any condition; however, we prefer to solve the problems by democratic and peaceful ways rather than armed struggle."

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-fg-turkey23oct23,1,714361.story?coll=la-news-a_section

[Lasher]

1. Turkey doesn't want a cease fire now

They want the PKK eradicated from Iraq.

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2. I think they would take this

If they wanted to go in and attack, they would have done so already.

[Lasher]

3. I was just repeating what a Turkish diplomat said on TV yesterday.

I think he was the Turkish ambassador to the US.

[incapsulated]

4. Well I'm sure they want the PKK gone

Whether they want to do it militarily is another thing. They tried that before and here they are again. Really, I don't think anyone wants to go into Iraq unless they absolutely have to right now, heh.

[Lasher]

5. That's just what the guy said.

He said the Turks didn't want to have to go in and take them out themselves, that they had been lobbying with the US and with the Iraqi leadership to do something about the PKK. He said that since the president of Iraq is himself a Kurd, he didn't think he had been talking with people who had little influence on the Kurds in this matter.

I remember thinking at the time that this might be just a ploy on the PKK's part. The PKK can hardly continue their gurella attacks with a Turkish army massed on the border, so why not say they want a cease fire? And there are logistical problems for the Turks if they just keep their forces mobilized and waiting on the border for a long time, or if they call off the attack now and retrieve their soldiers now, only to have to send them in later if (when?) the Kurds resume their raids.

And more specifically, the Turks don't want to spend a lot of time in the area with winter approaching. It gets so bad in the region that neither the PKK nor the Turks venture in until spring.

[Forkboy]

6. Probably a smart move.They were about to sold down the river again by us.

They still probably will be, but this may buy them time, most likely through the winter anyways.

on edit - nevermind...Turkey just rejected it.

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7. Yeah, rejected, I guess it wasn't good news after all...

:(

[Forkboy]

9. yeah, it's not good.

Hold on to your hats, the ride is starting.

[Selatius]

8. Basically, Turkey rejects peace. They want a fight with the PKK and their Kurdish friends now.

No peace. More war.