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TURKEY'S MPS BACK ATTACKS ON IRAQI KURDS
The Guardian
Thursday October 18, 2007
· PM gets blank cheque for raids on rebel bases
· Leaders in Baghdad appeal for restraint on both sides
Michael Howard in the Matin mountains, northern Iraq, and Julian Borger
The Turkish parliament yesterday gave its government the green light
for cross-border attacks into Iraq to destroy Kurdish rebel bases,
defying US calls for restraint.
The prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, quickly pointed out that the
vote did not signify an operation was imminent. But it does represent a
blank cheque for military action at any time within the next year. The
authorisation was passed by 507 votes to 19, with only a small Kurdish
party opposing it. It came just as George Bush was telling journalists
in Washington: "We are making it very clear to Turkey that we don't
think it is in their interest to send troops into Iraq."
The president added: "Actually they have troops already stationed in
Iraq, and they've had troops stationed there for quite a while. We
don't think it's in their interest to send more troops in."
Turkish TV quoted Mr Erdogan as saying: "What's important is the
parliament's decision, not what people say."
The raids would be aimed at the Kurdistan Workers' party (PKK),
which has stepped up attacks inside eastern Turkey in recent months. A
senior PKK leader told the Guardian: "If Turkey conducts any attack or
operation against Iraqi Kurdistan or Kurds anywhere we are prepared to
defend ourselves and we have prepared well for such an occasion. We
do not want a military confrontation but we will spread resistance
throughout Turkey and Kurdish areas in Iraq, Iran and Syria."
Last night Iraqi leaders sought to prevent an attack. Hours before the
vote the prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, called Mr Erdogan to ask
for more time to curb rebel activities in Iraq. "Let's do whatever
is necessary together," Mr Maliki said, according to the Anatolian
news agency.
After the vote the Iraqi president, Jalal Talabani, an ethnic Kurd,
called on both sides for restraint. "We consider activities of PKK
against the interests of the Kurdish people first, and then against
the interests of Turkey," he said in Paris. "We have asked the PKK
to stop fighting, to end the so-called military activity."
However, there were divisions between Kurdish politicians and the
Maliki government on how to respond to any incursion. Sami al-Askari,
a senior Maliki adviser, said it was up to the Kurdish fighters
(peshmerga) and US-led coalition troops to stop the Turks. "The
Kurdistan regional government should not allow PKK fighters to
infiltrate in to Turkey from northern Iraq," he said. "The Iraqi
government will not use its army and police to stand in front of the
Turkish army because security in that region is the responsibility
of the multinational forces and the peshmerga."
But a Kurdish MP in Baghdad, Mahmoud Othman, said any invasion by a
foreign power should be treated as a violation of Iraqi sovereignty,
adding: "It is the constitutional duty of all Iraqi forces to protect
the borders."
US influence on Turkey has been hit by the Iraq war, a perceived lack
of US support for Turkey's counter-insurgency against the PKK, and
a US bill declaring the mass killing of Armenians during the first
world war to be "genocide". The congressional resolution was losing
momentum yesterday after Democrats withdrew their support following
calls not to endanger the alliance with Turkey.
--Boundary_(ID_ZvudHNYfxsR6cNGxCWq9bg)--
The Guardian
Thursday October 18, 2007
· PM gets blank cheque for raids on rebel bases
· Leaders in Baghdad appeal for restraint on both sides
Michael Howard in the Matin mountains, northern Iraq, and Julian Borger
The Turkish parliament yesterday gave its government the green light
for cross-border attacks into Iraq to destroy Kurdish rebel bases,
defying US calls for restraint.
The prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, quickly pointed out that the
vote did not signify an operation was imminent. But it does represent a
blank cheque for military action at any time within the next year. The
authorisation was passed by 507 votes to 19, with only a small Kurdish
party opposing it. It came just as George Bush was telling journalists
in Washington: "We are making it very clear to Turkey that we don't
think it is in their interest to send troops into Iraq."
The president added: "Actually they have troops already stationed in
Iraq, and they've had troops stationed there for quite a while. We
don't think it's in their interest to send more troops in."
Turkish TV quoted Mr Erdogan as saying: "What's important is the
parliament's decision, not what people say."
The raids would be aimed at the Kurdistan Workers' party (PKK),
which has stepped up attacks inside eastern Turkey in recent months. A
senior PKK leader told the Guardian: "If Turkey conducts any attack or
operation against Iraqi Kurdistan or Kurds anywhere we are prepared to
defend ourselves and we have prepared well for such an occasion. We
do not want a military confrontation but we will spread resistance
throughout Turkey and Kurdish areas in Iraq, Iran and Syria."
Last night Iraqi leaders sought to prevent an attack. Hours before the
vote the prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, called Mr Erdogan to ask
for more time to curb rebel activities in Iraq. "Let's do whatever
is necessary together," Mr Maliki said, according to the Anatolian
news agency.
After the vote the Iraqi president, Jalal Talabani, an ethnic Kurd,
called on both sides for restraint. "We consider activities of PKK
against the interests of the Kurdish people first, and then against
the interests of Turkey," he said in Paris. "We have asked the PKK
to stop fighting, to end the so-called military activity."
However, there were divisions between Kurdish politicians and the
Maliki government on how to respond to any incursion. Sami al-Askari,
a senior Maliki adviser, said it was up to the Kurdish fighters
(peshmerga) and US-led coalition troops to stop the Turks. "The
Kurdistan regional government should not allow PKK fighters to
infiltrate in to Turkey from northern Iraq," he said. "The Iraqi
government will not use its army and police to stand in front of the
Turkish army because security in that region is the responsibility
of the multinational forces and the peshmerga."
But a Kurdish MP in Baghdad, Mahmoud Othman, said any invasion by a
foreign power should be treated as a violation of Iraqi sovereignty,
adding: "It is the constitutional duty of all Iraqi forces to protect
the borders."
US influence on Turkey has been hit by the Iraq war, a perceived lack
of US support for Turkey's counter-insurgency against the PKK, and
a US bill declaring the mass killing of Armenians during the first
world war to be "genocide". The congressional resolution was losing
momentum yesterday after Democrats withdrew their support following
calls not to endanger the alliance with Turkey.
--Boundary_(ID_ZvudHNYfxsR6cNGxCWq9bg)--