Turkey threatens to retaliate if the US imposes sanctions on it

(December 12, 2019)The US is planning to proceed with sanctions against Turkey because it acquired the S-400 defense system from Russia. Turkey has warned the US if the US imposes sanctions it would retaliate,

Turkey discusses retaliation

As sanctions appear more likely, Mevlut Cavusoglu the Turkish First Minister said on Wednesday that ejecting the US from two crucial airbases in Turkey was under discussion. As a recent article reports: "“If the United States takes any negative actions towards us, we will also take reciprocal steps,” Mevlut Cavusoglu, the minister, said when asked about possible U.S. sanctions in an interview broadcast on Turkish TV."

The two bases

The US has bases at Kurecik and Incirlik in Turkey. Incerlik is seen as particular important as it is much used in the Syrian war. It is also believed to harbor a number of nuclear weapons. As Turkish and US relations have worsened both with the defense purchase from Russia and Turkey's forming a safe zone on the Syrian border by occupying territory up to a 30 km depth into Syria forcing US to leave Incirlik has been raised as a possibility several times. Nevertheless the US Congress has still been pushing for sanctions against Turkey

Anadolu news agency quoted Cavusoglu as saying: "In the event of a decision to sanction Turkey, the Incirlik and Kurecik airbases can be brought to the agenda. Congress members must understand that it is not possible to get anywhere with sanctions."

Sanctions bill passes Senate committee

The bill will now be voted on by the full Republican-controlled Senate: "A U.S. Senate committee backed legislation on Wednesday to impose sanctions on Turkey after its offensive in Syria and purchase of a Russian S-400 missile system, the latest move in the chamber to push Republican President Donald Trump to take a harder line against Ankara. The Republican-led Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted by 18-4 to send the “Promoting American National Security and Preventing the Resurgence of ISIS Act of 2019” for a vote in the full Senate."

While the Republican chair of the committee said that the Senate should come together to change Turkey's behavior, another Republican Rand Paul opposed the bill saying it would make negotiations with Turkey more difficult.

Previously published in the Digital Journal

Trump gives Turkish president Erdogan a warm welcome at the White House

(November 14) Trump welcomed Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to the White House on Wednesday, Trump's warm welcome included the president saying he was a "big fan" of Erdogan.

As a recent article notes Erdogan's warm welcome took place in spite of the Turkish invasion of the so-called safe zone along its border with Syria: "Turkey's recent offensive against a key U.S. ally in Syria did not stop President Trump from honoring Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with a White House visit and joint press conference. Throughout the afternoon on Wednesday, the president had approving words for the authoritarian leader, whose military invaded northern Syria and forced out America's Kurdish allies. "

On Syria even Trump threatened that he could destroy the entire Turkish economy on a moment's notice. However any such discourse was carefully avoided in the meeting with Erdogan.

As reported in a recent article Trump's position on Turkey and Syria has hardly been consistent: "Trump ordered U.S. troops stationed in the border area to withdraw ahead of the Turkish invasion, while exhorting Erdogan in an extraordinarily undiplomatic letter to avoid too much bloodshed.“Don’t be a tough guy. Don’t be a fool!” Trump wrote in the letter, which was reportedly thrown by Erdogan into the trash."

Lawmakers of both parties critical of Erdogan

The Turkish invasion of Syria was criticized by a number of US lawmakers both Republican and Democrat.

A motion by the US Congress has also condemned the Turkish role in the Armenian genocide a resolution Erodgan has condemned as a grave insult to Turkey.

Earlier this week some members of the US Congress sent Trump a letter urging he cancel the visit: "Earlier this week, a group of Democratic and Republican members of the House of Representatives sent a letter to Trump calling on him to cancel Erdogan’s invitation to the White House. The letter, which was led by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel, expressed frustration with both Erdogan’s domestic and foreign policy agenda. "

However, Trump was careful not to bring up any topic disagreeable to Erdogan. Erdogan so far seems not to be looking to pick fights with Congress while he is in the US, and just focus on all the praise Trump has to offer.

Previously published in the Digital Journal

Turkey demands US air support for offensive in Syrai

The Turks allow the U.S. to launch operations against the Islamic State from an airbase in Incirlik but in return they have of late expected that the U.S. would provide air support for the Turkish military operations inside of Syria.

The Turks have even threatened to close down the base. Turkish forces are struggling to wrest the town of Al-Bab from the control of the Islamic State (IS). In response to the request, the U.S. made overflights of the town as a show of force. However, they did not make any attacks on IS. The Russians have already given the Turks air support by attacking targets outside of Al-Bab.

Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isik said that the lack of U.S. support was resulting in serious disappointment among the Turkish public. The Turkish Anadolu news agency also reported that it was leading to questions over U.S. use of Incrilik. Isik called on the U.S. to provide the needed air support for the al-Bab operation. The U.S. is already providing air support for Kurdish operations in Syria support that Turkey disapproves.

U.S. Air Force Colonel John Dorrian said that any move by Turkey to limit or even shut down the Incirlik operations would be disastrous for the US war against the Islamic State. The U.S. is mainly depending on a drive by Syrian Kurdish and Arab forces who are moving against the main city and self-proclaimed Islamic State capital of Raqqa. Dorian said: "It's absolutely invaluable. Really, the entire world has been made safer by the operations that have been conducted there." Turkey had briefly closed airspace over Incirlik during the recent failed military coup and had cut off power to the base. In the July coup attempt, Turkish pilots who supported the coup took off from Incirlik and bombed Ankara including the parliament building. Some Turkish officials were suspicious that the the U.S. may have supported Turkish military rebels. One high-ranking Turkish officer attempted to turn himself in to the US military but the U.S. allowed Turkish authorities to arrest him. Mevlut Cavusoglu, the Turkish Foreign Minister said: "The U.S. is a very important ally for us. We have cooperation in every field, but there is the reality of a confidence crisis in the relationship at the moment" — over Incirlik and the al-Bab offensive, which Turkey has named Operation Euphrates Shield.

Captain Dorian said that weather and poor intelligence about the location of friendly forces may have been factors in the decision of the U.S. planes not to attack. He said that there were discussions at higher levels to increase the support given by the U.S. Dorian said: "I don't have the details to offer you about what the way forward will be in al-Bab. But I do know there has been some good discussion on that, and Turkey is aware of that discussion."

The Incirlik base was built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers beginning way back in 1951 and an agreement for joint use was signed in 1954. It has been used as a deterrent to the then U.S.S.R. and for U.S. staging operations in the mid-east. There are still about 5,000 US service personnel at the base although military families have been sent home along with non-essential personnel due to unrest in Turkey.

Relations with the U.S. have been strained as Erdogan forges a new alliance with Russia. Erdogan is also angry that the U.S. refuses to extradite Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric residing in the U.S., whom Erdogan blames for starting the failed July coup. Erdogan is also annoyed at the U.S. support for the Kurdish YPG or People's Protection Units which he regards as an arm of the Kurdistan Worker's Party that he considers a terrorist group. It would seem a simple step for the U.S. to at the very least accede immediately to the request of Turkey for help for its forces attacking Al-Bab.

The Wages of Intervention

This is from antiwar.com
I almost always enjoy Raimondo's columns. They are provocative and usually well backed up with citations. He is probably my favorite libertarian, the best of the right wingers. On issues such as Iraq his views and those of many of the left coincide except for the substantial portion of the left that supports US imperialism.
Of course Raimondo is anathema to many on the US right!






December 19, 2007
The Wages of Intervention
Kurds snub Condi – that's what we get for our billions and the sacrifices of our soldiers
by Justin Raimondo
I had to laugh when I saw the headline: "Iraq Kurdish leader snubs Rice over Turkey raid." So Condi went all the way to Iraq to resolve this latest crisis in our fast-unraveling Iraqi protectorate, only to be told by Massoud Barzani, president of the Kurdistan autonomous region, the diplomatic equivalent of "go fly a kite." Such are the wages of interventionism: that's what we get for the billions poured into "liberated" Kurdistan over the years, not to mention the lives of our soldiers who fought and died to free Kurdistan from Saddam Hussein.

Yet who can blame the Kurds? After all, we're supposed to be their "liberators," and yet here we are, not merely standing idly by while Turkish warplanes bomb their country, but actively encouraging Ankara's aggression. Oh, the bitter irony! Ah, but that's power politics for you – allies turn into enemies in an instant, and the rule of thumb is to simply ask, "What have you done for me lately?"

Or, in the case of the Kurds, what have you done to me lately? The U.S. and the Kurds, formerly best friends, are on the road to an acrimonious divorce, with the battle over spousal support and custody of the kids bound to be an epic battle.

In this case, I'm betting on the Kurds. No tougher, more intransigent people exist in the entire region: the Kurdish peshmerga, known for their valor, form the backbone of the Iraqi army, such as it is. The historic dream of the Kurdish nationalist movement is the creation of a Greater Kurdistan, of which the establishment of the autonomous "regional government" of Kurdistan is but the first baby step.

Technically, Kurdistan is a province of Iraq, yet it has functioned as a de facto independent state since the establishment of the northern "no fly zone" in 1991. Ever since then, with Saddam cut off from his Kurdish domains, the Kurds have ruled themselves. Though up until this point very pro-American, Kurdistan is not exactly a Jeffersonian republic. The state is controlled by two families – the Barzanis and the Talabanis, who head up the two main political parties – and is a model of crony capitalism. In spite of this, however, Kurdistan is relatively free and has attracted a certain level of investment.

Among the major investors is Hunt Oil, a Texas-based firm that has close ties to the Bush administration, with whom the Kurdistan regional government recently signed contracts. CEO Ray Hunt was the finance chairman of the RNC in 2002 and contributed heavily to Bush's campaigns – not to mention giving a grand total of $350,000 for both Bush inaugural celebrations and raising $35 million for the Bush Library. His reward has been a seat on the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, an agency that has been a redoubt of neoconservative influence within the administration.

While Ray is the son of H. L. Hunt, the lovable old McCarthyite of the 1950s, whose sponsorship of such groups as the Facts Forum and the John Birch Society gained him notoriety as an ultra-rightist, the son has not exactly followed in his father's footsteps. Old H. L. was an isolationist, who disdained such liberal One-Worlder schemes as foreign aid and overseas meddling: he was mainly concerned about the ascendancy of socialism in America. The younger Hunt, however, has a different, more "modern" orientation, like so many heirs of conservative business fortunes: interventionism is profitable for him and his business interests, as it is for his cronies, such as Dick Cheney, his fellow Halliburton board member.

Aside from the impropriety of Hunt's investment – as a member of the PFIAB, he has access to secret intelligence that is unavailable to his competitors – there is the question of his ties to the CIA. As referenced here, Hunt Oil aircraft were spotted making at least two recent visits to the CIA's Camp Peary training facility. As to what the relationship is, and what advantage the CIA link is to Hunt Oil as a profit-making enterprise, I'll leave to the reader's imagination. Suffice to say that the connections of U.S. intelligence agencies to Kurdish rebel groups, not only on the Turkish-Iraqi border but within Iraq proper, are known, at least in general outline.

The Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), the main Kurdish group carrying out terrorist attacks on Turkish civilian and military targets, has long operated with impunity inside Iraq, in the territory controlled by the Kurdish regional government. In 2003, the detention of Turkish soldiers by U.S. troops – captured when they crossed the border with Iraq in hot pursuit of PKK terrorists – underscored the developing rupture with Washington. The Turks, who were once among the firmest of America's allies in the region, began to fall out out of favor in Washington, on account of their efforts to reach out to Iran and Syria and contain the consequences of the Iraqi breakup. Their refusal to let the U.S. use Turkish territory as a launching pad for the invasion didn't help relations, either.

Turkey, Iran, and Syria have one thing in common, and that is substantial – and fairly radicalized – Kurdish minorities, with active guerrilla groups in the first two, and sporadic reports of Kurdish unrest in Syria. That they are beginning to coordinate their efforts to tamp down Kurdish separatist activities comes as no surprise. This is yet more blowback from the invasion and breakup of Iraq. However, the Turkish-Syrian-Iranian rapprochement has provoked the wrath of the Israel lobby in Washington, and this was a key factor in getting the Armenian genocide resolution through Congress, which further alienated Ankara.

Rice's mission to Iraq was designed to showcase the alleged reduction in violence that is supposed to be due to the surge, yet her visit merely underscored the fragility of the U.S. position and the prospects for a rapid disintegration. Turkish forces drove into the northern part of Iraq just as the American secretary of state was in Kirkuk. The Kurds claim the city as their historic "Jerusalem," and it is the epicenter of an internal political struggle between Arabs and Kurds, characterized by ethnic cleansing and methods utilized by the Kurdish ultra-nationalists that can only be termed terroristic.

Kirkuk is the historic center of Iraq's oil industry, and control of the city and surrounding countryside is a key goal of the Kurds. A referendum to decide who has jurisdiction was scheduled for this year but had to be postponed because of a political deadlock in the Iraqi parliament. The Kurds have gone ahead and signed oil contracts, however, not only with Hunt Oil but with companies in the UK, Belgium, France, and Korea. The Iraqi oil ministry, however, says these contracts are null and void. In short, a conflict is brewing – and it won't be very long before it shatters the "peace" of the surge.

Although I don't know all the details, it seems to me that the current Kurdish brouhaha is reminiscent of what happened with Ahmed Chalabi, the neocon with nine lives. Chalabi, you'll remember, was the darling of the neoconservatives, who touted him as the George Washington of Iraq and gave him the kind of credibility that would later prove so mistaken – and so costly. He was, however, hated by the CIA, which rightly considered him a charlatan, a thief, and perhaps worse. As long as Chalabi was useful to U.S. policymakers, he was kept on retainer and supplied with all sorts of assistance; the minute he was not useful and the faction supporting him had fallen into disrepute, the CIA raided his Iraqi compound and spread the story that he was working for the Iranians.

The same pattern repeats itself with the Kurds, who were initially protected by U.S. warplanes and then lavishly funded after the invasion. There seems little doubt that U.S. military supplies intended for the Iraqi police and Kurdish military units somehow fell into the hands of the PKK and groups such as Pejak, the anti-Iranian Kurdish military force that is essentially the same organization as the PKK. Now that covert operations carried out by the U.S. government – or elements of it – have backfired and caused a real rift with the Turks, Rice has been dispatched to the region to patch things up. Yet there is little she can do about it at this point.

With one hand the U.S. government wreaks damage to its own interests, while the other hand is employed to clean up the mess. The Turks say they are using U.S. intelligence as well as acting with Washington's full approval, and no doubt they find the former quite useful: after all, their American overseers have every reason to know where the Kurdish guerrillas are and how they operate. As for rooting them out – again, I'm betting on the Kurds…

The invasion and occupation of Iraq has unleashed forces over which we have absolutely no control, and perhaps the most potentially destructive, if not the most potent, is Kurdish nationalism – which, in the present context, means Kurdish expansionism. Nor are the Kurds without allies in the region: the Israelis have cultivated the Kurds, arming and training their peshmerga and making significant economic investments, as reported by Seymour Hersh. The idea is to use the Kurds as a source of intelligence and to pinprick the Iranians. U.S. intervention on the side of the Turks means that the Americans are directly confronting Israeli interests in Kurdistan – yet another sign of a developing rupture in the much-vaunted "special relationship."

The wages of intervention are paltry indeed: we get the dubious satisfaction, in our self-appointed role as world "leader," of arbitrating ancient feuds and fresh conflicts constantly erupting in every part of the globe – and when it comes to Mesopotamia, there is no paucity of historic vendettas. As U.S. troops are increasingly caught in the crossfire between Shi'ites and Sunnis, Kurds and Turks, the Israelis and nearly everyone else, at some point the American people are going to wake up and say: "Enough! We don't want a single U.S. soldier to die for a 'Greater Kurdistan' or a unitary Iraqi state – because it's none of our business, after all."








Find this article at:
http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=12076

Copyright 2007 Antiwar.com

Turkish planes bomb northern Iraq in hunt for PKK

Interesting that the bombing was cleared with the US not the central Iraq govt. It shows who is important in Iraq, the US rather than the Kurdish regional govt. or central govt. The bombing may very well increase tension between the Kurdish, Iraqi, and Turkish authorities. It may turn the Kurds the staunchest US allies against the US as well.

Turkish planes bomb northern Iraq in hunt for PKK
16 hours ago

SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq (AFP) — Turkish planes bombed suspected rebel bases in northern Iraq on Sunday, killing one woman, damaging infrastructure and forcing villagers to flee, local officials said.

Turkey's general staff said its warplanes had hit the "regions of Zap, Hakurk and Avasin as well as the Qandil mountains" -- known to harbour rear bases of the rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

The Turkish military said the bombardment began at 1:00 am (2300 GMT Saturday) and all its aircraft had returned safely to base by 4:15 am (0215 GMT Sunday). Artillery continued to pound the targets once the planes left.

The raids, which Turkey's armed forces' chief said were carried out with US approval and intelligence, were condemned by the Iraqi government, which called in the Turkish ambassador to explain his country's actions.

"This attack has destroyed hospitals, schools and bridges. We demand that Turkish authorities stop such actions against innocents," deputy foreign minister Mahmoud al-Hajj Humoud said in a statement late Sunday.

Turkey's army chief General Yasar Buyukanit said the air strikes had been carried out with Washington's approval and using US military intelligence, the Anatolia news agency reported.

"The United States gave intelligence," General Buyukanit was quoted as telling the private television channel Kanal D.

"But what is more important is that the United States last night opened northern Iraqi airspace to us. By doing that, the United States approved the operation," Buyukanit said.

"The PKK should watch its step. It should not forget that, for us, its camps and movement in northern Iraq are like a 'Big Brother' show," the general said, referring to the popular reality TV show.

US President George W. Bush last month said Washington would provide Ankara with "real-time" information on rebel movements from its satellites.

In Ankara, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan hailed a "successful" operation.

"Last night, the Turkish armed forces carried out a comprehensive air strike against targets of the terrorist organisation in northern Iraq," he said in a televised speech.

"I am satisfied to say that, according to our preliminary evaluations, the operation, undertaken under night conditions, was successful."

The air strikes killed a woman and seriously wounded five other civilians but inflicted no losses on the PKK, the pro-Kurdish Firat news agency reported from Iraq.

"A woman was martyred and five people were heavily wounded" in the village of Leejuwa near the Qandil mountains, Democratic Communities of Kurdistan (KCK) spokesman Ferman Garzan was quoted as saying on its Internet site.

The KCK is an umbrella organisation bringing together the PKK and affiliate groups.

The village was badly damaged in the bombing and two school buildings were destroyed, Garzan said.

"There are no losses on the guerrilla side," he added.

The Iraqi Kurdish militia that provides security in north Iraq said that according to preliminary reports, eight Turkish warplanes bombed villages along the border near the Qandil mountains.

"Some families are fleeing from the villages attacked today. We have dispatched our border teams to check the casualties and damage," said a spokesman, Jabbar Yawar.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan denied any civilian areas had been hit.

"You should trust statements made by the Turkish armed forces," he said in televised remarks.

The PKK, which has waged a deadly insurgency in southeastern Turkey since 1984, said the strikes lasted eight hours.

"An air strike by scores of warplanes and artillery attacks took place against PKK positions," the group said on its Internet site, adding that the raid followed a month of reconnaissance flights by US planes.

The air strikes were at least the second Turkish operation against the PKK inside Iraq this month. Turkish helicopters pounded suspected rebel bases on December 1.

Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek warned Turkey would launch more cross-border strikes if necessary.

"The government, working in harmony with all state institutions, primarily the armed forces, is determined to take this scourge off the country's agenda," the Anatolia news agency quoted him as saying.

The Turkish parliament authorised cross-border operations in October, but Ankara has so far held back from any ground assault amid strong lobbying by Washington

Turkey to approve troops to Iraq in defiance of U.S.

The US seems to think nothing of snubbing and irritating Turkey even though it is a key ally in the Middle East and provides significant logistic support for its operations. It has done less than nothing about the PKK. In effect it turned over security to the Kurd authorities who are loathe to do anything against the PKK.
Although the Turks will probably not attack the PKK in Iraq right away, their patience must be wearing very thin and most of the public is demanding more action.



Turkey to approve troops to Iraq in defiance of U.S.
Tue Oct 16, 2007 6:42pm EDT Iraq seeks talks on Turkey threat

- Turkey will defy international pressure on Wednesday and grant its troops permission to enter northern Iraq to crush Kurdish rebels based there, though it has played down expectations of any imminent attack.

Washington, Ankara's NATO ally, says it understands Turkey's desire to tackle rebels of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), but fears a major incursion would wreck stability in the most peaceful part of Iraq and potentially in the wider region.

Turkey's stance has helped drive global oil prices to $88 a barrel, a new record, and has hit its lira currency as investors weigh the economic risks of any major military operation.

Parliamentary approval would create the legal basis for military action, essentially giving the army a free hand to act as and when it sees fit.

By law, Turkey's parliament must approve the deployment of Turkish troops abroad. Parliament is expected to approve the request from Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's cabinet by a large majority following an open debate.

"Passage of this motion does not mean an immediate incursion will follow, but we will act at the right time and under the right conditions," Erdogan told his ruling AK Party on Tuesday.

"This is about self-defense," he said in televised remarks.

Iraqi Vice-President Tareq al-Hashemi lobbied Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul in Ankara on Tuesday to refrain from military action and to seek a diplomatic solution.

Erdogan is under heavy public pressure to hit the PKK camps in northern Iraq after a series of deadly rebel attacks on Turkish troops.

APPEALS UNHEEDED

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, asked about possible Turkish action in northern Iraq, made a veiled appeal for restraint. "Any measures by any country should not create any concerns," he told reporters in New York.

"We are going through a very difficult and sensitive period in Iraq. We need full cooperation and support from the countries in the region," he said, noting that Turkey would host an international conference on Iraq in early November.

Washington and Baghdad have so far failed to take action against the estimated 3,000 PKK guerrillas hiding in northern Iraq, despite repeated Turkish appeals over a number of years.

Ankara knows Baghdad has little clout in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish north, whose leaders have consistently refused to take up arms against their ethnic kin in the PKK. Washington's own forces are sorely stretched in central and southern Iraq.

Brent Scowcroft, a former U.S. National Security Council adviser visiting Ankara on Tuesday, said Washington should have done more to address Turkish concerns about the PKK.

"We have taken some steps but they have been very inadequate and we are trying to improve cooperation between Iraq and Turkey on dealing with that," he told Reuters.

He said that any Turkish incursion into northern Iraq was likely to destabilize the area and complicate an already complex situation there.

"But also the Turks are an ally and they are suffering from PKK activities across the border, so it's a balancing act," he added.

Turkish opposition parties strongly back the plan for military action, with only the small pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) expressing concern about the implications.

"Military methods alone cannot bring a solution," DTP leader Ahmet Turk said.

Many Turks regard the DTP as a mouthpiece for the PKK, which Ankara blames for the deaths of more than 30,000 people since the group launched its armed struggle for an ethnic homeland in southeast Turkey in 1984.

Turkey conducted large military operations in northern Iraq against the PKK in the 1990s but failed to wipe out the rebels.

Some analysts say that despite its tough rhetoric Turkey may limit itself to aerial bombardment of rebel targets and small forays across the border while avoiding a major incursion.

(Additional reporting by Paul de Bendern and Patrick Worsnip)



© Reuters2007All rights reserved

Turkey escelates action near border.

The US and Kurdistan seem to think that they can put off dealing with the PKK issue indefinitely. It is virtually inevitable that there will be a Turkish incursion given that nothing has been done. The US passage of the Armenia genocide motion will not help. Imagine if the Iranian Revolutionary Guards actually made raids across the Iraq border and engaged in firefights and ambushes of US or coalition troops. The US would certainly take the opportunity to chase them across the border and tell Iran to keep them home or else. The other irony in this is that according to the US the PKK is a terrorist group. So while it fights one terrorist group Al Qaeda in Iraq, it allows another the PKK safe haven in northern Iraq. Of course it leaves anti-Iranian terrorist groups alone as well.

Turkey escalates action near Iraq border By SELCAN HACAOGLU, Associated Press Writer
Wed Oct 10, 7:27 PM ET



SIRNAK, Turkey - Turkish warplanes and helicopter gunships attacked suspected positions of Kurdish rebels near Iraq on Wednesday, a possible prelude to a cross-border operation that would likely raise tensions with Washington.

The military offensive also reportedly included shelling of Turkish Kurd guerrilla hideouts in northern Iraq, which is predominantly Kurdish. U.S. officials are already preoccupied with efforts to stabilize other areas of Iraq and oppose Turkish intervention in the relatively peaceful north.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters that preparations were under way for parliamentary authorization of a cross-border operation, and told private CNN-Turk TV that the motion might reach Parliament on Thursday. The preparations "have started and are continuing," he said. An opposition nationalist party said it would support the proposal.

If parliament approves, the military could choose to launch an operation immediately or wait to see if the United States and its allies decide to crack down on the rebels, who have been fighting for autonomy in southeast Turkey since 1984 in a conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.

"If you're against (the rebels), make your attitude clear and do whatever is necessary," Erdogan said in comments directed at Washington. "If you cannot do it, then let us do it."

Turkey and the United States are NATO allies, but relations have also been tense over a U.S. congressional bill that would label the mass killings of Armenians by Turks around the time of World War I as genocide.

Later Wednesday, the House Foreign Affairs Committee voted 27-21 in favor of the measure, sending it to the House floor.

President Bush strongly urged Congress to reject the bill, saying it would do "great harm" to U.S.-Turkish relations. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that 70 percent of U.S. air cargo headed for Iraq goes through Turkish air space. About a third of the fuel used by the U.S. military in Iraq also goes through Turkey.

"Access to airfields and to the roads and so on in Turkey would very much be put at risk if this resolution passes and Turkey reacts as strongly as we believe they will," Gates said.

Turkey has raised the possibility of impeding logistical and other U.S. military traffic now using the airspace.

"Unfortunately, some politicians in the United States have once again sacrificed important matters to petty domestic politics despite all calls to commonsense," President Abdullah Gul was quoted as saying by the state-run news agency Anatolia.

An Iraqi government spokesman said a Turkish military incursion would be regarded as a violation of Iraq's sovereignty.

"We are aware of the size of the threat Turkey is subjected to, but this does not give Turkey the right to enter Iraqi territories," said Ali al-Dabbagh.

Turkey has conducted two dozen large-scale incursions into Iraq since the late 1980s. The last such operation, in 1997, involved tens of thousands of troops and government-paid village guards. Results were inconclusive.

Top NATO commander Gen. John Craddock, the senior U.S. soldier in Europe, indicated that he could do little to stop a Turkish incursion.

Craddock was asked by reporters in Washington whether he can influence Turkey's actions in terms of Iraq.

"I won't say in terms of Iraq," he said. "I will say that I talk with my counterparts, military leaders in Turkey, frequently, and we discuss issues about their border. And I'll leave it at that."

The latest Turkish military activity followed attacks by rebels that have killed 15 soldiers since Sunday.

Turkish troops were blocking rebel escape routes into Iraq while F-16 and F-14 warplanes and Cobra helicopters dropped bombs on possible hideouts, Dogan news agency reported. The military had dispatched tanks to the region to support the operation against the rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which the U.S. has branded a terrorist organization.

Also Wednesday, assailants hurled a hand grenade at a police vehicle in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir, killing a police officer and wounding four other people, according to reports and officials. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Kurdish rebels have carried out similar attacks.

Elsewhere, authorities detained 20 Kurds, including eight women, at the Habur border gate with Iraq, the Sirnak governor's office said.

State-run Anatolia news agency said the suspects — most of them university students — were detained as they entered Turkey.

Turkish military leaders have described an incursion as a necessary tactic to push back the rebels and disrupt their safe havens and supply lines. The government is also deeply frustrated at its inability to curb attacks by concentrating on operations within its own borders, and under pressure to show resolve to an outraged public.

But such an operation could harm relations with Washington, create instability across the border and destroy livelihoods in the poor region. Turkey provides electricity and oil products to the Iraqi Kurdish administration in northern Iraq, and the annual trade volume at Habur gate, the main border crossing, is more than $10 billion.

"If this border gate is closed because of war, then everybody in this region will suffer," said Mehmet Yavuz, a Turkish truck driver, hauling cement to the Iraqi Kurdish city of Irbil. "This border gate is daily bread for us."

US Turkey ties face crisis over PKK in northern Iraq

As Juan Cole mentions on his blog. This could become another front in the Iraq war. The US has turned over security to the Kurds in the area as if washing its hands of the issue. THere are reports that Iran is shelling some areas as well since Kurdish rebels use border areas as a base to attack inside Iran. I wonder if the US black ops are actually supporting that.


US ties face second crisis over Iraq
Military-to-military and political ties between NATO allies Turkey and the US reached a historic low level on March 1, 2003, when the Turkish Parliament rejected a motion to allow US troops to launch a second front from Turkish soil during the US invasion of Iraq.




Since then, relations between the two militaries in particular have witnessed normalization, even if they are not yet completely back on track.

But the increased potential for the Turkish military to invade northern Iraq to crush Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorists has restarted the infliction of serious damage on Turkish-US military ties, say well-informed Western sources.

A Turkish invasion of northern Iraq, the only quiet part of a country in which US-led coalition forces have been engaged to halt fierce sectarian violence, would mean for Turkey, in the words of a Western military analyst, "Goodbye to the US and to the EU, which Turkey seeks to become a member of, as well as goodbye to billions of dollars coming into Turkey helping the recovery of its fragile economy."

Senior US sources are quoted by Western military analysts as saying that Turkish-US ties have been going through a dangerous and sensitive time as the Turkish military has created the potential to invade northern Iraq. On June 3 US Defense Secretary Robert Gates cautioned Turkey against sending troops into northern Iraq, as it has threatened, to hunt PKK terrorists.

According to Western military sources, with the Turkish military's possible invasion of northern Iraq, Turkish-US relations have been going through one of the worst times of their history, with such an invasion constituting the biggest threat to furthering instability in Iraq in particular and in the Middle East as a whole. The same sources quoted senior US officials as believing that the military is hiding behind the government by urging it to make a political decision for the invasion. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, meanwhile, says that if a written request is made by the military, Parliament would consider it.

The politicians, preparing for early general elections on July 22, do not seem keen to allow the military to invade northern Iraq, believing such a move would create serious turmoil for the region -- triggering Iran and Syria to follow suit -- for Turkey's relative stability. A statement made by Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaşar Büyakanıt on Thursday during a reception at the Finnish Embassy, saying that the "the Turkish soldier is not a neighborhood bully. There is need for a political directive [for a cross-border operation]," has at least signaled that the military will not invade northern Iraq without permission.

Büyükanıt made those remarks upon questions over the latest press reports that the Turkish military had entered northern Iraq to prevent PKK terrorists from infiltrating Turkey from safe havens located in the neighboring country. The invasion reports were denied by Turkey, the US and the Iraqi Kurds.

Soon after his remarks during the Finnish Armed Forces Day, the General Staff released a statement on its Web site, at midnight on Thursday, vowing to give the necessary response to PKK terrorists, hours after the terror organization detonated a roadside bomb in southeastern Turkey, killing three Turkish soldiers and injuring six other people.

The attack on Thursday evening occurred in an area that the Turkish military had declared a “temporary security zone” amid concern that it might stage a large incursion into Iraq to pursue PKK terrorists.

The General Staff statement also called on the nation to show its reaction. There was the “expectation [on the part] of the Turkish Armed Forces that the Turkish nation will show its mass reaction to resist in the face of these terrorist actions.”

The military said the country’s national and unitary structure was in danger and that escalating attacks have shown the real aim of the “separatist and racist terrorist organization.”

Meanwhile, a Turkish invasion of northern Iraq, stated the Western military analysts, may lead to the official declaration of a Kurdish state in northern Iraq, something that Turkey is adamantly against.

During a visit to Greece in April of this year Gen. Büyükanıt, in response to a question, stated that it was impossible for them to accept a new state established on its doorstep.

Psychological warfare

As a Turkish invasion in northern Iraq is possible, part of the TSK’s reactions, which included building up forces on the Iraqi border coupled with statements saying that military intervention is an option to stop the PKK terrorist infiltration into the country, has been a psychological war the military has launched, recalled a retired Turkish general.

“I believe that Turkey can only solve the PKK problem inside Turkey by also addressing the region’s economic and social problems. The military has been pursing a policy of escalation by exerting pressure on the US (to do something against the PKK in northern Iraq), on the Kurds and on the government. It may not in the end use force through the invasion of Iraq but could succeed in persuading the Kurds and the US in particular to do something against the PKK, such as cutting off logistics in the region,” said the same source.

Through the psychological warfare, the TSK also wanted to retain their favor with the public, the majority of whom believes, albeit wrongly, that an invasion of northern Iraq will reduce considerably the PKK threat.

Hot pursuit and buffer zone

Though Turkey, the US and Iraqi Kurdish leaders denied a major invasion into northern Iraq by the Turkish military, sources in the region told Today’s Zaman that hot pursuit operations, with around 10 Turkish soldiers in each case, have been taking place on-and-off inside northern Iraq in about a 15 to 20-kilometer zone.

This is coupled with mortar shelling by the Turkish soldiers inside northern Iraq from within Turkey.

Over speculation that the Turkish military may set up a buffer zone inside northern Iraq in areas bordering Turkey, Western sources stated that the US in particular would not allow Turkey to do that as it would be similar to an invasion of a sovereign state.

Some Turkish officials have said that if troops stage a major incursion into Iraq, they might set up a buffer zone in Iraq to try to stop terrorist infiltration.

Trouble Brewing between Turkey and US?

The Turkish government has been requesting Iraq to crack down on these groups for ages. The US does not want to interfere it seems even though it classifies the PKK as a terrorist group. Obviously all terrorist groups are not equal in fact from time to time the US has helped out terrorist groups acting against Iran.


Turkey's military chief on Thursday said it was necessary to launch a cross-border military operation into northern Iraq against Kurdish rebels but that any decision to do so needed political approval from the Turkish government.

"It is necessary to launch an operation into Iraq," Chief of General Staff Yasar Buyukyanit told reporters. "The (Kurdish Workers' Party) PKK has huge freedom of movement in Iraq."

He also said the military had launched a number of large-scale operations against PKK rebels in south-east Turkey.

Buyukyanit said the operations had been launched as snow melting in mountain passes made it easier for rebels from the PKK to enter Turkey from neighbouring Iraq.

The general's statement will increase pressure on the Turkish government to give the green-light to a cross-border operation aimed at destroying PKK camps in mountainous northern Iraq. The military has previously said there are around 5,000 PKK guerrillas based at the camps.

The Turkish government has repeatedly called on the United States and Iraq to launch its own operations against the PKK, an organization that both the United States and the European Union describe as a terrorist group, the last coming on Wednesday from Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul.

"Our position is very clear ... If harm is coming to Turkey from a neighbour then that neighbour must do something to stop it," Gul said on Wednesday. "If they do not have the power (to stop the PKK) then international law provides the necessary remedies," Gul said.

While US officials have expressed their sympathy for Turkey's position they say that US forces in Iraq are too stretched to be able to carry out such an operation.

The United States is also concerned that a Turkish operation would upset Iraqi Kurdish groups and might destabilize the region, the only part of Iraq that is relatively free of violence.

Buyukyanit said 13 Turkish soldiers had died fighting PKK rebels in the first four months of the year and complained that the 2003 US- led invasion of Iraq had resulted in a large number of Iraqi army weapons falling into the hands of the Kurdish guerrillas.

More than 32,000 people, mainly Kurdish civilians caught in the crossfire, have been killed since the PKK launched its fight for independence or autonomy in the early 1980s for the predominantly Kurdish-populated south-east of Turkey.