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| Iraq |
| Turkish Troops, Weapons Head Toward Iraq |
| 2007-10-22 |
| SIRNAK, Turkey (AP) - Dozens of Turkish military vehicles loaded with soldiers and heavy weapons rumbled toward the Iraq border on Monday after an ambush by guerrilla Kurds that left eight soldiers missing and killed 12. Iraq's president said the rebels would announce a cease-fire, his office confirmed. Turkey's military said it had had no contact with the eight soldiers after Sunday's clash and said 34 guerrillas had been killed so far in a counteroffensive. A pro-Kurdish news agency said the eight were captured—a claim that would make it the largest seizure since 1995, when guerrillas grabbed eight soldiers and took them to northern Iraq. The ambush on Sunday outraged an already frustrated public. Demonstrations erupted across the country and opposition leaders called for an immediate strike against rebel bases in Iraq, despite appeals for restraint from Iraq, the U.S. and European leaders. In Washington, the State Department said the United States has opened a diplomatic "full court press" to urge Turkey not to invade northern Iraq. "In our view, there are better ways to deal with this issue," spokesman Sean McCormack said, stressing that the United States regards the PKK as a terrorist organization. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he told Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in a telephone conversation on Sunday night that Turkey expected "speedy steps from the U.S." in cracking down on Kurdish rebels and that Rice, who called the Turkish leader, asked "for a few days" from him. McCormack did not dispute the account of the conversation but declined to comment on what Rice had meant by asking for "a few days." Erdogan did not specify what he meant by "speedy steps," but he has often urged the United States and Iraq to crack down on the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK. Turkish leaders say it is the responsibility of those countries to do whatever is necessary to destroy the guerrilla group's bases in northern Iraq. "We will continue these diplomatic efforts with all good intentions to solve this problem caused by a terrorist organization," Foreign Minister Ali Babacan told reporters in Kuwait. "But in the end, if we do not reach any results, there are other means we might have to use." Babacan has been touring Arab countries to explain his country's plans. The Turkish military confirmed Monday that eight of its soldiers were missing after the ambush by Kurdish rebels that left 12 other soldiers dead and brought the northern Iraq border area to the brink of war. "Despite all search efforts, no contact has been established with eight missing personnel since shortly after the armed attack on the military unit," the military said in a statement on its Web site. The pro-Kurdish Firat news agency, based in Belgium, released the names of seven people it said were Turkish soldiers captured by separatist fighters in Sunday's ambush. It said an eighth soldier was also taken captive but did not release his name. The last major kidnapping was in 1995, when Kurdish guerrillas grabbed eight soldiers and took them to bases in northern Iraq, where the group is still headquartered. The rebels released the soldiers two years later after human rights activists, lawmakers and family members visited the rebel hide-out. An AP Television News cameraman saw a convoy of 50 military vehicles, loaded with soldiers and weapons, heading from the southeastern town of Sirnak toward Uludere, closer to the border with Iraq. It was unclear whether the vehicles were being sent to reinforce troops engaged in fighting with rebels on Turkish soil or were preparing for possible cross-border action. Tens of thousands of Turkish troops are already deployed in the border area. More than 2,000 protesters in Istanbul, mostly members of an opposition party, denounced the attack by the PKK and urged the government of Erdogan to resign, the private Dogan news agency reported. In Ankara, hundreds convened at a main square shouting "Down with the PKK and USA!" Ambulances decorated with Turkish flags drove around main streets, their sirens wailing. Some 13,000 schoolchildren in Bilecik in eastern Turkey held a minute of silence while people marched down a main street, waving the Turkish flag, the state-run Anatolia news agency reported. In Bursa, in northwest Turkey, some protesters walked to a military conscription office and asked to enlist to fight rebels. Turkey's military said Sunday it had launched an offensive backed by helicopter gunships in retaliation for the attack, shelling rebel positions along the rugged Turkish-Iraqi border. The rebel attack occurred four days after Parliament authorized the government to deploy troops across the border in Iraq, amid growing anger in Turkey at perceived U.S. and Iraqi failure to live up to pledges to crack down on the PKK. Sunday's attack raised the death toll of soldiers in PKK attacks in the past two weeks to around 30. |
| Posted by:anonymous5089 |
| #11 I suspect they might as the two nations work closely together. NS, while I know that you are referring to the recent Syrian incursion, I invite you to Google "Turkey denounces Palestinians" or "Turkey criticizes Palestinians". All you get are hits for Israel being criticized by other Islamic entities. I'm not so sure of how "closely" they work together. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-10-22 18:38 |
| #10 Think the Turks would have even a remote bit of sympathy for Israel now? I suspect they might as the two nations work closely together. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2007-10-22 18:25 |
| #9 Any Turkish incursion into Iraq should be met by immediate and lethal American firepower. These Islamic thugocracies deserve one thing only, the back of our hand Any american incursion into Turky should be met by immediate and lethal Russian Cinese firepower |
| Posted by: renzo 2007-10-22 18:03 |
| #8 The ambush on Sunday outraged an already frustrated public. Demonstrations erupted across the country and opposition leaders called for an immediate strike against rebel bases in Iraq, despite appeals for restraint from Iraq, the U.S. and European leaders. Sounds almost like Israel's situation. Think the Turks would have even a remote bit of sympathy for Israel now? Nah! What was I thinking?!? Any Turkish incursion into Iraq should be met by immediate and lethal American firepower. These Islamic thugocracies deserve one thing only, the back of our hand. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-10-22 16:15 |
| #7 2 infantry divisions, 2 armored division and now moving Corps elements into the area. They have shelled non PKK villages, and they have been interfering in N Iraq for years- remember in 03 and 04 we captured their intelligence operatives fometing "Turkmen" opposition to the Kurdish government, and cutting deals with the Sunnis for support of violence in the area. This is not about the PKK - if it were they'd be operating agains the PKK in Syria as well. This is an exercise in Turkish racism, tryign to stomp the Kurds iun Iraq before they enocourage the large number of Kurds in Turky to stand up for their rights. And if they do come over the border, we will lose a large chunk of the most effective parts of the Iraqi Army formthe Baghdad area as the Kurds go north to defend thier homeland. The Turks have screwed us once with the 4th ID, they screwed us again by having thier intel service foment trouble aroudn Kirkuk, and now they will do it again, by causing our efforts in Baghdad area to fall apart due to the Kurdish troops being pulled back to defend the north. Bush needs to tell them in no uncertain terms that this is unacceptable, and that any heavy Tukish forces inside IRaq qill be struck with US Airpower. And that he is ordering the "Hteater Reserve" brigade in Kuwait to be moved opposte the Turk forces in the north to proide "Security", so that any Tukish forces will be met with US troops. But Bush it too gutless to do it. He has Condoleeza kissing thier ass and is doign liek he has done the last severa times the Tuks hve messed with us: Nothing. Start pulling our troops out of Turkey (Incirlik), put them at an airbase in Kurdish N Iraq and in or new bases in Romania. And start treating Tuely according to their actions, not thier old alliance. They have made themselves and enemy - cut off ALL US Advisory and Funding from the Turks other than that required by NATO. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2007-10-22 15:47 |
| #6 You may very well have something there Steve. I personally don't think we've got much to be concerned about. NATO member or no NATO member, the US has plenty of air power in the region to keep them from becoming too feisty. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2007-10-22 13:20 |
| #5 Random thought: Maybe the Turks are just pre-positioning forces for the upcoming popcorn fest in Iran. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2007-10-22 13:04 |
| #4 And to set an example for the Turks. |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2007-10-22 12:34 |
| #3 PKK needs to go after Iran if it wants us to stay off their neck. THat being said, if the Turks come over the border in force, then that is an act of war, and the Kurds and the Iraqi Army, backed by US airpower, should respond forcefully, to set an example for Iran and Syria. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2007-10-22 12:23 |
| #2 PKK needs to release those hostages. |
| Posted by: newc 2007-10-22 11:41 |
| #1 So, the Kurds are pro-American and really like what we have done for them in Iraq. Time then to call in a few chits and ask them to step on the neck of PKK get them to "cool it" until we can get the rest of Iraq under control. We certainly don't need the safest, most calm section of the country to blow up while we are defestering and pacifying the bad parts. |
| Posted by: Jack is Back! 2007-10-22 11:32 |