US struggles to avert Turkish intervention in northern Iraq
· Ankara claims Kurdish rebels preparing attacks
· Operations could wreck American peace strategy
Simon Tisdall in Ankara
Friday March 23, 2007
The Guardian
The US is scrambling to head off a "disastrous" Turkish military intervention in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq that threatens to derail the Baghdad security surge and open up a third front in the battle to save Iraq from disintegration.
Senior Bush administration officials have assured Turkey in recent days that US forces will increase efforts to root out Kurdistan Workers' party (PKK) guerrillas enjoying safe haven in the Qandil mountains, on the Iraq-Iran-Turkey border.
But Abdullah Gul, Turkey's foreign minister, MPs, military chiefs and diplomats say up to 3,800 PKK fighters are preparing for attacks in south-east Turkey - and Turkey is ready to hit back if the Americans fail to act. "We will do what we have to do, we will do what is necessary. Nothing is ruled out," Mr Gul said. "I have said to the Americans many times: suppose there is a terrorist organisation in Mexico attacking America. What would you do?... We are hopeful. We have high expectations. But we cannot just wait forever."
(Continued here.)
· Operations could wreck American peace strategy
Simon Tisdall in Ankara
Friday March 23, 2007
The Guardian
The US is scrambling to head off a "disastrous" Turkish military intervention in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq that threatens to derail the Baghdad security surge and open up a third front in the battle to save Iraq from disintegration.
Senior Bush administration officials have assured Turkey in recent days that US forces will increase efforts to root out Kurdistan Workers' party (PKK) guerrillas enjoying safe haven in the Qandil mountains, on the Iraq-Iran-Turkey border.
But Abdullah Gul, Turkey's foreign minister, MPs, military chiefs and diplomats say up to 3,800 PKK fighters are preparing for attacks in south-east Turkey - and Turkey is ready to hit back if the Americans fail to act. "We will do what we have to do, we will do what is necessary. Nothing is ruled out," Mr Gul said. "I have said to the Americans many times: suppose there is a terrorist organisation in Mexico attacking America. What would you do?... We are hopeful. We have high expectations. But we cannot just wait forever."
(Continued here.)
Powered by Blogger
1 Comments:
The PKK situation has been simmering for some time but has gotten little media attention. The media generally reports that the Kurdish part of Iraq is stable (meaning void of sectarian violence), yet the number of incursions and rocket attacks is generally not reported. Interestingly, I believe the King of Jordan has aligned himself with Turkey.
The other story that is not getting much media attention is that a curfew was declared in Basra.
Here's a wire service story : http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2007/03/23/2003353493
" Police patrols warned residents to stay inside and said an indefinite curfew had been imposed. Gunmen attacked the headquarters of Fadhila, a small but powerful party that controls the provincial governorate and withdrew from the ruling Shiite alliance last week, witnesses said. The battle will be seen as a worrying sign of intra-Shiite tension.
The fighting also erupted just two days after British forces pulled out of their base in the center of Basra, Iraq's second city, and handed it over to the Iraqi 10th division in what a British general called an important step towards Iraqis taking control of their own security."
Post a Comment
<< Home