War with Turkey?

Rice made no progress with her efforts to get Turkey to pull back.

Today's news is even worse...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071014/wl_nm/...a_military_dc_5

By Paul de Bendern 14 minutes ago

Turkey's powerful military chief said on Sunday if the U.S. Congress approved a resolution branding the 1915 killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks genocide ties between the NATO allies would never be the same again.

Ankara is a crucial ally for Washington which relies on Turkey as a logistical base for the war in Iraq.

Some analysts believe the vote could weaken Washington's influence over Turkey and increase the likelihood of a Turkish incursion into northern Iraq to crush Kurdish separatist rebels who use the territory to stage attacks into Turkey.

"If the resolution that has passed in the U.S. committee is accepted by the assembly of the House of Representatives our military relations with the United States can never be the same again," chief of General Staff, General Yasar Buyukanit, told newspaper Milliyet.

 

Turkish forces now seeking permission to enter Iraq.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071015/wl_nm/turkey_iraq_dc_5

Turkey's cabinet asked parliament on Monday for permission to launch attacks on Kurdish separatists in northern Iraq that Washington fears could destabilize one of the most peaceful areas of the country.

Government spokesman Cemil Cicek said Turkey still hoped military action against the Kurds, who use the mountainous region as base for attacks inside Turkey, would not be needed.

"But the most painful reality of our country, our region, is the reality of terror," he told a news conference.

Iraq urged Turkey not to resort to military action on its territory, calling on it to be "wise and patient."

"The Iraqi government calls on the Turkish government to pursue a diplomatic solution and not a military solution to solve the (problem) of terrorist attacks which our dear neighbor Turkey has witnessed from the PKK," said Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh.

Cicek said the motion, which parliament is expected to approve on Wednesday, would be valid for one year and would allow multiple cross-border operations.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Walker1 @ Oct 16 2007, 08:14 AM) [snapback]526283[/snapback]</div>

In this case we're really b/w a rock and a hard place. We're pretty much responsible for protecting Iraq and it's people and yet we're allies, sort of, w/ Turkey.

Once again oil is the issue along with the Kurds wanting to take advantage of the US presence in Iraq to try to establish their own nation...I think they assume we'll defend them if the Turks retaliate for the Kurd's terroristic strikes by their rebel forces...and maybe we would have to. This is not a pretty situation but it is yet another consequence not considered by the brilliant Bush administration before deciding to liberate Iraq...or was it to liberate WMD, oh, wait, we're bringing democracy, that's right....I keep forgetting why we're there.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dbermanmd @ Oct 16 2007, 08:38 AM) [snapback]526294[/snapback]</div>

No way, you're just being opportunist to make an attack against her. As you correctly stated in the first paragraph this has a long history, the Kurds have been instigating Turkey with terroristic attacks. While the Turks may, indeed, not be happy about the proposed bill it's certainly not fair to say it's "entirely on Speaker Pelosi". This has been a tempest in a tea pot for a long time.


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dbermanmd @ Oct 16 2007, 08:38 AM) [snapback]526294[/snapback]</div>

Bzzzzz, thanks for playing, we have some fine parting gifts for you. They had the inaccurate information that the White House fed to them which had been carefully selected to make their case about non-existant WMD.
But in this we are closer to agreeing than it may appear. The democrats could have taken a stand and not gone along with this terrible decision to go into Iraq...I knew it was bad and I'm sure many of them did as well...yet there's so much pressure to 'support the president' in situations like this...to show faith and be loyal and patriotic that they neglect to do the right thing. So in that way those democrats who voted to go to war also do share responsibility for the situation we're in.
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Today's Turkey update...more directly relates to the Prius actually...the situation there has helped push oil prices up yet again....Note there are no comments about the bill before congress or Nancy Pelosi. Seems they think the deaths of 30,000 of their own people are a better reason than a meaningless bill before the US congress...odd.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071016/ts_nm/turkey_iraq_dc_9


Turkish PM says will act when time is right
By Paul de Bendern 25 minutes ago

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that securing permission from parliament to launch a major attack on Kurdish separatists in northern Iraq did not necessarily mean a military incursion was imminent.

Instead, Erdogan said "we will act at the right time and under the right conditions."

"This is about self-defense," he told his ruling AK Party.

The prospect of a strike into mainly Kurdish northern Iraq helped push oil prices towards a record high $88 a barrel. The Turkish lira traded down almost 2 percent against the dollar.

Baghdad sent Sunni Arab Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi to Ankara and called for urgent talks to head off military action that Washington fears could sow chaos in an area so far spared much of the carnage afflicting other parts of Iraq.

Erdogan's cabinet asked parliament this week for permission to launch cross-border offensives following a spate of Kurdish separatist attacks. Approval is expected on Wednesday.

Washington has urged restraint on Turkey, strategically located between Europe and the Middle East. It relies on Turkey for logistical support for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Turkey, for its part, argues that the United States and Iraq have done too little to curb some 3,000 Kurdish rebels attacking eastern Turkey in pursuit of an independent state there.

PRESSURE TO ACT

Dozens of soldiers and civilians have been killed in recent weeks by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels, piling pressure on the government to act.

The Turkish military has long called for permission to hunt down PKK rebels in Iraq.

Under heavy security, General Ilker Basbug, head of the land forces, inspected units stationed in the Turkish border province of Sirnak, which has been hardest hit by recent PKK attacks.

A paramilitary officer became the latest casualty when he stepped on a rebel-laid mine, security sources said.

Turkey blames the PKK for the deaths of more than 30,000 people since it launched its armed struggle in southeast Turkey.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dbermanmd @ Oct 16 2007, 09:30 AM) [snapback]526320[/snapback]</div>

Working later today...
The gas has been out there for a long time, Pelosi might be tossing a few sparks around, but she's not going to influence Turkey's actions...they're brighter than that.

 

Today's update...not exactly sure if I should interpret it as good or bad...I'm leanding toward good as the moves seem to be pushing diplomacy rather than war.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071017/ts_nm/...AuBlMG4hJ9g.3QA


Turkey's parliament was poised on Wednesday to grant its army permission to enter northern Iraq to crush Kurdish separatist rebels based there, but Iraqi leaders stepped up a diplomatic offensive to avert any attack.

The United States, Turkey's NATO ally, is also strongly opposed to military action, fearing it will destabilize the most peaceful part of Iraq and possibly the wider region by encouraging other neighbors such as arch-foe Iran to intervene.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has played down expectations of an imminent attack, but the parliamentary vote will effectively give NATO's second biggest army a free rein to cross the mountainous border as and when it sees fit.

Ankara'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.

Fearing possible rebel attacks, Turkey has beefed up security for a major oil pipeline carrying Caspian crude from the Azeri capital Baku via Georgia to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, a senior energy ministry source told Reuters.

In comments implying military action might be averted, Iraqi Vice-President Tareq al-Hashemi said in Ankara on Wednesday he had achieved his aims in emergency talks with Turkish leaders.

"I think I got what I wanted (from my talks). Now there is a new atmosphere and we should use it... Iraq should be given a chance to prevent the cross-border terrorist activities," CNN Turk television quoted Hashemi as saying.

 

The Kurds seem to be pressing the issue almost inviting a Turkish retaliation...I guess they expect the US is gonna be there to defend them....



http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071021/ts_nm/turkey_kurds_dc_4



At least 12 Turkish soldiers killed in Kurd ambush



Kurdish rebels killed at least 12 Turkish soldiers and wounded 11 others on Sunday in an ambush in mountains near the Iraqi border, security sources said.

Fighting was continuing between troops and rebels in the border area, they said.

The attack will put pressure on Turkey to send troops into northern Iraq to hunt down the rebels. On Wednesday, Turkey's parliament authorised cross-border operations against the rebels, who use the region as a base.

 

Turkish planes pound rebels along border
By VOLKAN SARISAKAL, Associated Press Writer

Turkish warplanes and helicopter gunships reportedly pounded Kurdish rebel positions along the Turkey-Iraq border Wednesday, broadening military operations against insurgents amid persistent fears Turkey will launch a major offensive inside Iraq.

Turkish Cabinet members and military generals held a six-hour meeting in Ankara to discuss a possible operation in northern Iraq, but decided to recommend the government take economic measures first to force cooperation by Iraqis against Kurdish rebels.

The state-run Anatolia news agency reported that Turkish warplanes and attack helicopters bombed mountain paths used by rebels to cross the porous border from Iraq and stage hit-and-run attacks against soldiers in southeastern Turkey.

Residents in the Iraqi Kurdish village of Derishkit told an Associated Press reporter that two Turkish jet fighters struck a target on the banks of the Zey-Gowra River about four miles inside Iraq. They were unable to offer any more details about the apparent attack.

An AP Television News cameraman also saw eight F-16s loaded with bombs and attack helicopters take off after nightfall from a base in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir. The cameraman also saw about a dozen transport helicopters fly along Mount Cudi near the border with Iraq and at least one warplane fly past Cizre, a town close to the border.