 ANKARA (Reuters) - Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on Friday reaffirmed Turkey's right to send troops into Iraq to crush Kurdish rebels there and chided U.S. officials for questioning it.
| We're not unsympathetic -- we dislike terrorists as much as you do. And since you're a NATO ally (sometimes), we'll defend you if you're attacked. Right now the PKK is rather quiet, so I think this latest statement has more to do with domestic politics ... |
"The Turkish Republic will do whatever is necessary to combat the terrorists when the time comes, but it will not announce its plans in advance," Erdogan told a news conference after a meeting of his ruling AK Party. "We say we are ready to take concrete steps with the Iraqi government and we also say these steps must be taken now."
| In a strange coincidence, Erdogan is up for election later this year ... |
In sharp language underscoring Turkish anxiety about the chaos in Iraq, Erdogan said it was wrong for Washington -- "our supposed strategic ally" -- to tell Turkey, with its historic and cultural ties in the region, to stay out of Iraq. "We have a 350 km border with Iraq. We have historic relations ... the United States is 10,000 km away from Iraq, and yet is it not intervening in Iraq's internal affairs?" he said.
| If you'll recall we actually gave you a great opportunity to get involved in, oh, March 2003, but you listened to the French instead of us. Had you let the 4ID through things would likely be much better for you today. You could have sent some troops along and 'protected' your interests. We would have looked the other way while you whamped the PKK. |
Turkish media say Erdogan has been irked by comments attributed to Washington's envoy to Baghdad, Zalmay Khalilzad, warning third countries not to interfere in Iraqi affairs.
| That was meant more to Syria and Iran, but if you're offended well that's really no skin off our fore. Say, how's that EU thing working out? |
Ankara has long complained that the United States and Iraqi government have failed to crack down on Kurdish rebels, and periodically asserts its right under international law to conduct cross-border operations against the guerrillas.
| If you target the PKK gunnies in a careful way that would likely be okay. But you guys have, historically, been rather free and heavy-handed with the truncheons and mustache wax ... |
With both presidential and parliamentary elections looming in 2007, analysts say Erdogan is under increased pressure to show he is tough on security issues.
| And just like in Canada, France and other countries, playing the anti-US card works well. |
More than 30,000 people have been killed since the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), branded a "terrorist organisation" by the EU and the U.S. as well as Ankara, launched an armed struggle for an ethnic homeland in southeast Turkey in 1984. The PKK began a unilateral ceasefire on Oct. 1 at the request of its jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan, but Turkey dismissed the move as a public relations ploy and clashes have continued, though at a lower intensity than before.
Washington has appointed a special envoy to coordinate measures with Turkey aimed at tackling the PKK, but analysts say it will not apply military force against the group, given the scale of the problems it faces in the rest of Iraq.
| We're a little busy right now; take a number and we'll call you ... |
"We don't want to waste time with abstract statements, we want concrete results," said Erdogan, who has said the Iraq situation is now a bigger foreign policy priority for Turkey even than its bid to join the European Union.
| Why don't we get the EU and the UN involved in this problem of yours? I'm sure we could find some African Union peacekeepers real cheap to guard your border against the PKK. Put a French general in charge and, voila! Problem solved! |
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