(No Ratings Yet)
This is the first occasion since the 2003 invasion led by U.S. forces that Turkish soldiers have moved onto Iraqi soil.
The offensive alarmed Iraqi officials, who have condemned violence by the separatist Kurdish guerrillas in the past but do not want to see a large-scale Turkish invasion.
“This has been a serious escalation,” Iraq’s foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, said in an interview. “We hope that this will end as soon as possible for fear of escalation or any minor mistakes that would lead to a wider problem.”
After hours of bombing and shelling by Turkish artillery and warplanes, Turkish soldiers crossed via the Habur mountain pass after dusk Thursday into a sparsely populated corner of northern Iraq that the separatist rebel group, known as the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, has used as a refuge and a base for attacks inside Turkey. The number of Turkish troops in Iraq remained unclear Friday, but U.S. and Iraqi officials estimated it at 500 to 1,000. Turkish television reported that the number was as high as 10,000.
Ahmed Denize, a member of the PKK, said that small teams of guerrillas had fought the Turkish soldiers throughout the day Friday. Turkish soldiers destroyed three bridges during their movement into Iraq, he said. He also said PKK fighters had killed about 20 Turkish soldiers, but that claim could not be verified.
“We had information that they are coming, so we spread out in small groups and opened fire on them,” he said. “The fight is still going on.”
The violence between the Turkish government and the Kurdish rebels has roots going back decades, and the shelling against Kurdish rebel strongholds have been sanctioned by the U.S.- which has it’s obvious interests in Iraq, but how exactly does our country’s leadership feel about the new escalation?
The Bush administration has been an active partner in Turkey’s fight against the Kurdish rebels. Turkey has grown more aggressive since President Bush called the PKK a common enemy of Turkey, Iraq and the United States recently. The U.S. military has been sharing intelligence to help target rebel positions and is kept informed of Turkey’s military movements.
Gul called Bush early Thursday to tell him of the incursion, according to Turkey’s military. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Turkey to keep the operation short and “keep in mind that while the terrorists need, obviously, to be stopped from doing what they’re doing, that there really can’t be a destabilization of the region.”
“This is something that we were aware of in advance, and, as you know, the U.S. agrees with Turkey that the PKK is a terrorist organization and is an enemy of Turkey, Iraq and the United States,” White House spokesman Scott Stanzel told reporters.
Kurdish officials said they have lived with the U.S.-sanctioned bombing campaign against the rebels but feel the incursion is a violation of their sovereignty; they have also said they will defend their territory, if necessary. Bakir, the Kurdish foreign relations official, said the Americans should halt the Turkish advance.
“We believe that they have a responsibility to stop this incursion, which is not in anybody’s interest,” he said.
After the cease-fire declared by Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr (which many see as just as responsible for the decline in violence in Iraq as the surge in U.S. troops) being announced to continue for another 6 months- this can only have negative effects on an already strained calm that rests over the nation of Iraq. Whether it will be allowed to continue remains to be seen, as the U.S. will be forced both to try to keep the peace in Iraq and appease the current administration there, and keep it’s allies in Turkey happy to maintain the movement routes which the U.S. uses to bring most of it’s supplies to troops stationed in Iraq.
UPDATE, 2/24/08 9:24 am CST: (by Ms. Missive)
As reported on an ABC news website, the Turkish death toll has now risen to 15 including a report that the Kurdish rebels downed a Turkish helicopter. I’d also like to note that the ABC news website is displaying the newest incarnation of the Iraqi flag as reported here on Patriot Missive.
Popularity: 3% [?]
Sphere: Related Content
Fiction Fan on 
