Turkey says U.S. has ordered PKK capture in Iraq

[tocqueville]

Turkey says U.S. has ordered PKK capture in Iraq

By Daren Butler
57 minutes ago

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A top Turkish general said on Tuesday the United States had given direct orders for the capture of rebel Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leaders in Iraq, Turkish media reported.

General Ilker Basbug, second in command at Turkey's politically influential General Staff, said Turkey had the right to stage an incursion into Iraq against PKK guerrillas as a last resort if no action was taken.

"The United States has given the order for the capture of the leadership of the PKK terror group," state-run Anatolian news agency quoted Basbug as telling senior media executives.

The U.S. embassy in Ankara declined to comment, and no Turkish or U.S. government comment was immediately available.

Ankara has repeatedly pressed the United States to act against the PKK in Iraq, where the Turkish military says about 3,000 militants are holed up in the northern mountains in a region controlled by Iraqi Kurds.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050719/wl_nm/turkey_usa_rebels_dc

[Johnyawl]

1. This is good...

:sarcasm: ...we're having so much success against the Sunni based insurrection, lets stir up the Kurds!

[tocqueville]

2. you read my mind

[Beaver Tail]

3. This makes me sick

The opression of the Kurds in Turkey is a much worse state than what we saw with Slobodan Milosevic. This is in essance State Sponsered Terrorism, sponsered by the US. When you are an oppressed displaced society you tend to get a little pissed.

[Tempest]

4. Perhaps the Kurds wouldn't be oppressed

If they would stop attacking the government and demanding a chunk of Turkey for their own country.

[eissa]

5. Why not?

It worked for them in Iraq, and it's not even their real homeland.

[Tempest]

7. Several points

1) The Kurds attacked the Iraq government, and the Iraq government hit back hard. Kurds lose.

2) The Kurds only controlled the northern part of Iraq because of protection of the U.S. and Britain in the no-fly zone. The Kurds didn't even control the oil revenue in their area, it still went to Baghdad.

So, in effect, it didn't work in Iraq.


The Kurds will have no protection from the U.S. and Britain in Turkey, and Turkey has no issues with retaliating against the Kurdish attacks with brute force.

Turkey has told Bush to rein in the Iraqi Kurds (PKK) or Turkey will cross the border and do it themselves. Bush can't afford to pull troops out of the Sunni Triangle to protect the Kurds in the north. Nor can Bush let the Kurds fend for themselves, the U.S. would lose control over the relatively peaceful northern Iraq.

Bush can, however, supply the Kurds with weapons to protect against the Turkish army, but that would be a violation between NATO countries. Not something the rest of the Middle East, and other NATO countries will take lightly.

Already the U.S. is losing influence in Asia with the recent signing of a multi-national agreement between Russia, China and several former Soviet countries. To support the Kurds (the PKK is a terrorist group according to the State Dept.) against Turkey would set in motion a multi-national agreement in the Middle East and surrounding area which would exclude the U.S. and any puppet government (Iraq) the U.S. has influence over.

Bush has pretty much painted himself into a corner on the Kurdish issue.

[cascadiance]

6. Turkomens are also being repressed in northern Iraq too!

They (though long time citizens in parts of northern Iraq as an ethnic minority there) been hauled off to jail with little or no pretext near Kirkuk. Many feel this is to help Kurds achieve a majority of voting power in Kirkuk to take control of the oil pipeline coming in there from Turkey.

http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level.php?cat=Security&loid=8.0.177995814&par=0

Neither side is innocent here. Just like there are two sides of the stories between Israel and Palestine, there are two sides of the story between Kurds and Turkey as well. Ethnic and religious feuds are the norm for many groups in that region. The U.S., by invading and occupying Iraq, have placed themselves right in the middle of this one.