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TURKISH PM CLEARS WAY FOR IRAQ ASSAULT
Ian Traynor, Europe editor, Peter Walker and agencies
The Guardian, UK
Reuters
Oct 9 2007
The coffin of a Turkish soldier is carried from a military helicopter.
The Turkish government will seek parliamentary authorisation for a
possible military operation into northern Iraq to counter separatist
Kurdish guerrillas after a spate of deadly attacks on soldiers and
civilian.
News channels reported the decision to consult parliament was taken
after a three-hour meeting today between prime minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan and senior colleagues from his ruling party.
Earlier the prime minister's spokesman declared: "To put an end to
the terrorist organisation operating in the neighbouring country, the
order has been given to take every kind of measure - legal, economic,
political, including also a cross-border operation if necessary."
Mr Erdogan, who has previously resisted demands from the Turkish
armed forces for permission to cross into Iraqi Kurdistan, has been
under intense pressure in the wake of the deadliest Kurdish attacks
for more than a decade.
A Turkish incursion is fiercely opposed by Washington since it would
immensely complicate the US campaign in Iraq and upset the only stable
part of Iraq: the Kurdish-controlled north.
The Turkish parliament would have to authorise any large-scale
operation into Iraq, but troops could pursue rebels over the border
without prior clearance.
Two Turkish soldiers were killed yesterday in booby trap explosions
laid by guerrillas of the Kurdistan Workers' party (PKK) - fighters
classified as terrorists by Ankara, Washington and the European
Union. Those casualties followed the killing of 13 Turkish soldiers
in the south-east of the country on Sunday when PKK forces outgunned
a Turkish unit of 18 men without sustaining any casualties, according
to the Kurds.
Last week, in an ambush also ascribed to the PKK, gunmen sprayed a
bus with automatic fire in the same region, killing 13 civilians,
including a boy of seven.
The Turkish media described the toll from the attacks as the worst
in 12 years in a conflict spanning several decades that has taken
almost 40,000 lives.
Mr Erdogan is known to think little of the invasion option, making the
pragmatic calculation that it would probably fail. Western diplomats
in Ankara agree that an invasion could be counter-productive. The
Turkish military raided Iraqi Kurdistan dozens of times in the 1990s
but were unable to suppress the insurgency.
The prime minister, however, is being challenged by the army command,
which earlier this year demanded his authority to invade. He is also
vulnerable to a mounting public clamour to act because of the upsurge
in guerrilla activity and the heavy casualties.
Hardline Turkish nationalists entered parliament in Ankara after
elections in July and they are also baying for Kurdish blood.
In the wake of the soldiers' deaths on Sunday, Mr Erdogan signalled a
shift in policy, saying: "Our campaign against terrorism will continue
in a different manner." The Turkish military has declared 27 "security
zones" on the Iraqi and Iranian borders off-limits to civilians,
suggesting to some that it might be gearing up for an invasion.
Officially, Ankara refuses to recognise or deal with the government
of Iraqi Kurdistan, although there have been back-channel attempts
over the past year to engage with Massoud Barzani, the president of
the Iraqi Kurdish region.
Mr Erdogan's options are also constrained by strong US hostility to an
invasion. While Turkish public opinion has been strongly anti-American
since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, much of the logistical support for
the US troops goes to Iraq via Turkey.
Relations are also under severe strain because of US congressional
moves to brand the 1915 massacres of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey as
"genocide".
Mr Erdogan sent aides to Washington yesterday to lobby Congress on
the "genocide" resolution. Ankara is also warning that it could block
the logistical support to the US in Iraq if the resolution is passed.
Ian Traynor, Europe editor, Peter Walker and agencies
The Guardian, UK
Reuters
Oct 9 2007
The coffin of a Turkish soldier is carried from a military helicopter.
The Turkish government will seek parliamentary authorisation for a
possible military operation into northern Iraq to counter separatist
Kurdish guerrillas after a spate of deadly attacks on soldiers and
civilian.
News channels reported the decision to consult parliament was taken
after a three-hour meeting today between prime minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan and senior colleagues from his ruling party.
Earlier the prime minister's spokesman declared: "To put an end to
the terrorist organisation operating in the neighbouring country, the
order has been given to take every kind of measure - legal, economic,
political, including also a cross-border operation if necessary."
Mr Erdogan, who has previously resisted demands from the Turkish
armed forces for permission to cross into Iraqi Kurdistan, has been
under intense pressure in the wake of the deadliest Kurdish attacks
for more than a decade.
A Turkish incursion is fiercely opposed by Washington since it would
immensely complicate the US campaign in Iraq and upset the only stable
part of Iraq: the Kurdish-controlled north.
The Turkish parliament would have to authorise any large-scale
operation into Iraq, but troops could pursue rebels over the border
without prior clearance.
Two Turkish soldiers were killed yesterday in booby trap explosions
laid by guerrillas of the Kurdistan Workers' party (PKK) - fighters
classified as terrorists by Ankara, Washington and the European
Union. Those casualties followed the killing of 13 Turkish soldiers
in the south-east of the country on Sunday when PKK forces outgunned
a Turkish unit of 18 men without sustaining any casualties, according
to the Kurds.
Last week, in an ambush also ascribed to the PKK, gunmen sprayed a
bus with automatic fire in the same region, killing 13 civilians,
including a boy of seven.
The Turkish media described the toll from the attacks as the worst
in 12 years in a conflict spanning several decades that has taken
almost 40,000 lives.
Mr Erdogan is known to think little of the invasion option, making the
pragmatic calculation that it would probably fail. Western diplomats
in Ankara agree that an invasion could be counter-productive. The
Turkish military raided Iraqi Kurdistan dozens of times in the 1990s
but were unable to suppress the insurgency.
The prime minister, however, is being challenged by the army command,
which earlier this year demanded his authority to invade. He is also
vulnerable to a mounting public clamour to act because of the upsurge
in guerrilla activity and the heavy casualties.
Hardline Turkish nationalists entered parliament in Ankara after
elections in July and they are also baying for Kurdish blood.
In the wake of the soldiers' deaths on Sunday, Mr Erdogan signalled a
shift in policy, saying: "Our campaign against terrorism will continue
in a different manner." The Turkish military has declared 27 "security
zones" on the Iraqi and Iranian borders off-limits to civilians,
suggesting to some that it might be gearing up for an invasion.
Officially, Ankara refuses to recognise or deal with the government
of Iraqi Kurdistan, although there have been back-channel attempts
over the past year to engage with Massoud Barzani, the president of
the Iraqi Kurdish region.
Mr Erdogan's options are also constrained by strong US hostility to an
invasion. While Turkish public opinion has been strongly anti-American
since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, much of the logistical support for
the US troops goes to Iraq via Turkey.
Relations are also under severe strain because of US congressional
moves to brand the 1915 massacres of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey as
"genocide".
Mr Erdogan sent aides to Washington yesterday to lobby Congress on
the "genocide" resolution. Ankara is also warning that it could block
the logistical support to the US in Iraq if the resolution is passed.