Turkey is threatening to invade Iraq. This should be fun.

[HappyWeasel]

Turkish general says can hit Kurd rebels in Iraq
Sat 10 Mar 2007 13:35:37 GMT
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, March 10 (Reuters) - A top Turkish general on Saturday reaffirmed Ankara's right under international law to send troops into northern Iraq to crush Turkish Kurdish rebels hiding there if it saw fit.

The comments by General Ilker Basbug, head of Turkey's land forces, came as Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki urged all neighbouring countries, including Turkey, attending a conference in Baghdad to settle their regional disputes through dialogue.

"Turkey can always take measures against the terrorist organisation in northern Iraq if our military needs require it ... under international law," Basbug told reporters in Diyarbakir, largest city in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast.

His hints at military action were not new but their timing reflects Turkish military fears of an upswing in violence by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) as spring arrives.

Basbug said he believed up to 3,800 PKK rebels were hiding in northern Iraq, mostly in the mountainous areas bordering Turkey. When the snows melt, many cross into Turkey every year to stage attacks on both military and civilian targets.

Analysts say a full-blown Turkish invasion of northern Iraq is highly unlikely but do not discount commando raids or air strikes, especially as politicians feel the need to appear tough on terrorism ahead of this year's elections.

Basbug warned PKK supporters against using the upcoming festival of Newroz, celebrated by Kurds across the region, to whip up violence. Newroz has sometimes led in the past to clashes between security forces and separatist protesters.

Ankara blames the PKK for the deaths of more than 30,000 people since the group launched its armed campaign for an ethnic homeland in southeast Turkey in 1984.

Basbug also stressed Turkey's continued support for Iraq's territorial and political unity. Ankara fears Iraq's Kurds want to create their own independent state in northern Iraq which could in turn fan separatism among its own Kurdish population.

At the Baghdad talks on Saturday, Maliki said other countries should not interfere in Iraq's internal affairs and he urged them to settle any disputes through dialogue.

The one-day Baghdad conference brought together mid-level officials from Iraq's neighbours, such as Turkey and Iran, Arab countries and permanent U.N. Security Council members including the United States and Russia.

[youngdem]

1. LINK?

[HappyWeasel]

5. here.

there. This is truly a barrel of monkeys. http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=L10593224

[rockymountaindem]

2. Everybody could have forseen this

That's the problem with America having latched onto the idea that Kurds are great people who will side with us... apparently that stance won't win us any more friends in the region because Kurds are otherwise universally dispised. I'll never forget the time when my Iraqi friend, a Catholic who had to flee Saddam's rule, went on an unsolicited five minute tirade about how much he and everybody else hates the Kurds. That's a passion that runs deep.

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[rockymountaindem]

11. Hardly

However, embracing the one group in the region that is universally dispised is hardly a recipe for success, which is how the Bush administration has tried to portray our cozy relations with the Kurds.

[Kerrytravelers]

12. Aw. Our little mass.man has had a meltdown.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x380696#383689

[RaleighNCDUer]

9. 'The enemy of my enemy' is only a valid tactic if that enemy is not

also the enemy of everybody else in the region as well.

The Kurds are a nation without a state, divided between all those countries in the region, and there is an active nationalist movement in all of them. It would ratchet down the tensions a lot if those nations could be convinced to cede a small portion of their territory to an independent Kurdistan. Problem is, in both Iraq and Iran, the Kurdish area includes oil lands, and Turkey will not cede Kurdish territory under any circumstance.

The Brits really fucked that region when they drew the maps after WW1.

[papau]

4. They invaded Iraq 3 years ago and stayed - Does our media ever check facts? - the border

and for a few miles into Iraq has Turkish troops running around - and I thought everyone - even the GOP controlled media - both knew about it and was allowed to talk about it. There even may be formal, rather than informal, Kurd permission by this time - I do not know about that.

In any case, the headline is misleading.

[azurnoir]

16. Don't forget this from last summer

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=1937261

Bush sat still while "arch bad guys" Iran shelled Kurdistan

[papau]

20. True - the Iranian and Turkish incursions are a fact of daily life. n/t

n/t

[HappyWeasel]

6. oh yeah..I remember that.

What if those Turks stay? However, I feel that the Kurds have a right to life and self-determination and it is our obligation, God-given or no, to protect to the Kurds from genocide, even if it means opeening a can of nuclear hell fire on those racist animals. The Sunnis and Shia can protect themselves, the jews (and palestinians for that matter) and kurds can't. The fact is that we can still actually save the Kurds and none of these Islamofacists should stop us. We should talk to the secular northern countries about supporting the defense of Kurdistan if the Sunnis or Shia invade. Its time to apologize to our allies, admit we were wrong and actually go back to the war we all agree to fight, instead of the mad quest that divides us.

[RaleighNCDUer]

10. 'opeening a can of nuclear hell fire on those racist animals'?

Which racist animals would that be? The Turks, who are our NATO ally? The one country in the region that can make any claim to being a secular democratic government? Who, exactly, are you calling "islamofascist" (to quote the reich-wing pundits).

Do you know who the players are? Can you tell one team from another?

And I don't know about you, but I didn't agree to fight ANY fucking war.

[HappyWeasel]

14. Well, Turkey was a secular state until 2004...now...

they banned Winnie the Pooh! Winnie the Pooh! Two years ago. We should fight no more offensive wars, but we should defend Kurdistan. We can still save them. We must show the islamised states in the reigon that we mean business while still being able to pull out. We also need a cause that can unite us with 95% of our NATO allies. Iraq is not one of them. Afghanistan and Kurdistan can be. ...and yes, I used "Islamofacist" becaus we must be committed to fighting both "ChristoDominoisticfacsim" and "Islamofacism" with equal passion.

[draft_mario_cuomo]

18. We must oppose ALL religious extremism

I agree with you that we must oppose all forms of religious extremism, particularly the types that call for the use of force and murder to achieve their goals.

One poster responded to your post by accusing you of racist hatred. I can't see anything remotely racist in opposing religious extremism. If we surrender our progressive principles against those who seek to impose the most conservative ideology on the planet upon us how can we with a straight face vigorously oppose ideologies that are much less conservative and do not seek to murder our fellow citizens to achieve its goals?

[malaise]

19. We?

The Christians Bush and Blair have already murdered close to 700,000 Iraqis.

[Robbien]

17. Just a bunch of warmongering buzzwords

and such a nice use of FauxNews/Limbaugh favorite word "Islamofacists".

Talk about racist hatred, your post is a prime example.

[theoldman]

7. Makes you wonder if we will stand by our friends the Kurds or

if we will let them die.

[Gloria]

8. Not only has this been brewing forever, but the referendum on how to

divide up Kirkuk has been postponed a couple of years! You can bet there will be more moving in and out of Turkmen, Arabs, Kurds, etc. all trying to pack the city even more with their factions....

[HappyWeasel]

15. The point will be that the Kurds will be in charge...

...and if it appears that others are trying to colonize them, they will have the moral authority to defend their country.

[rug]

13. Familiar rationale.