Turkish and Kurd conflict

[Angelo]

PKK rebels kill 13 Turkish soldiers
Sun Oct 7, 2007 4:35pm EDT
Email | Print | Digg | Reprints | Single Page | Recommend (2) [-] Text [+]


powered by Sphere
Featured Broker sponsored link(Adds President Gul quote, fresh army quotes, background)

By Ferit Demir

TUNCELI, Turkey, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Kurdish rebels shot dead 13 Turkish soldiers on Sunday, the worst such incident in years and likely to put more pressure on the government to authorise a cross-border military strike against Kurdish bases in Iraq.

The soldiers were killed after the army -- which has boosted its troops in the southeast and introduced security zones limiting access for civilians in the region -- killed a PKK suspect earlier in the day in fighting in Sirnak province.

"Thirteen members of our armed forces were killed in an attack ... carried out by terrorists on one of our units serving in the Sirnak region," a General Staff statement said.

"The terrorists were pursued under fire by our units to escape routes out of the country to be stopped from leaving," it said in an apparent reference to Iraq, which borders Sirnak province.

Some 3,000 PKK fighters are based in northern Iraq and launch attacks on security and civilian targets in Turkish territory. Thousands of PKK rebels are also believed to be inside Turkey, which is seeking European Union membership.

The Turkish armed forces favour a cross-border operation, but Washington fears such a move could destabilise the only relatively stable part of Iraq. Turkey is a key NATO ally.

The ruling AK Party government has been reluctant to push for a cross-border operation, seeking instead to pressure Washington and Baghdad to act.



PRESSURE MOUNTS

"Those who create, feed and support terrorism should know that no force can stand against the determination of the Republic of Turkey to protect its inseparable integrity," the state Anatolian news agency quoted President Abdullah Gul as saying.

Last month Ankara and Baghdad signed an agreement to help clamp down on PKK militants on Iraqi territory, but it did not give Turkey permission to follow rebels into Iraq.

Turkey has criticised both Iraqi and U.S. authorities for failing to control the rebels.

There have been pockets of intense fighting in the southeast between the Kurdish rebels and the army before winter sets in.

Helicopters hit rebel positions after the soldiers were killed, security officials, who declined to be identified, said.

Gul and Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan offered condolences to armed forces chief General Yasar Buyukanit, Anatolian reported.

In a separate incident, a bomb near a ferry terminal on the outskirts of Istanbul wounded four people, including a policeman. Kurdish rebels, as well as al Qaeda and left-wing militants, have been blamed for such attacks against civilians and the authorities in the past.

On Sept. 29, PKK members stopped a minibus in Sirnak province and killed 12 passengers. A Turkish soldier was killed in the region on Oct. 6.

The PKK took up arms against Turkey in 1984 with the aim of creating an ethnic homeland in the southeast. More than 30,000 people have been killed in the conflict.

The fighting dwindled after the capture of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan in 1999, but clashes have resumed in recent years. The PKK is considered a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.








© Reuters2007All rights reserved

[Angelo]

R.I.P. to the soldiers and condolences to their families

[Prokomenos]

I like how they label the Kurds terrorists very American like. If anything the Turkish government are the terrorists.

[nsminc]

Heard about it too.

Watch for Turkey to pressure the US so they could do an incursion into Iraq in order to chase/hunt PKK.

[Fatsa]

Originally Posted by nsminc
To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 1 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Heard about it too.

Watch for Turkey to pressure the US so they could do an incursion into Iraq in order to chase/hunt PKK.

Yeah. We all know the truth about why they want to go into Iraq. They can't stand that the Iraqi Kurds aren't oppressed anymore. They want to go in there and make sure that the Kurds are living no better than cavemen.

[half greek]

Originally Posted by Angelo
To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 1 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

R.I.P. to the soldiers and condolences to their families

Are you serious! :thimomenos:

[Megale]

The Turkish/Kurd situation is getting worse:


TUNCELI, Turkey (Reuters) - Kurdish separatist rebels said on Friday they were crossing back into Turkey to target politicians and police after Ankara said it was preparing to attack them in the mountains of northern Iraq.

ADVERTISEMENT


As regional tensions rose, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan cautioned that relations between Ankara and Washington were in danger over a U.S. congressional resolution branding as genocide massacres of Armenians by Ottoman Turks.

Washington harbors growing concerns about the possibility of a major Turkish military incursion to crush Kurdish rebels seeking a homeland in eastern Turkey. U.S. officials fear such an action could destabilize a relatively peaceful area of Iraq.

Ankara recalled its ambassador from the United States for consultations after the U.S. vote, which was strongly condemned in predominantly Muslim but secular Turkey.

"We don't need anyone's advice on northern Iraq and the operation to be carried out there," Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told a cheering crowd in Istanbul, after saying that the United States "came tens of thousands of kilometers and attacked Iraq without asking anyone's permission."

Referring to relations with the United States and the Armenian resolution, Erdogan, using a Turkish idiom usually employed to describe relations, said: "Where the rope is worn thin, may it break off." He did not elaborate.

"All prospects look bad ... and relations with the U.S. have already gone down the drain," Semih Idiz, a veteran Turkish commentator, said.

"If Turkey sets its mind on something, whether wrong or right it will do it. The invasion of Cyprus in 1974 is a good example," he said, referring to a Turkish invasion of northern Cyprus which drew U.S. condemnation and sanctions.

A statement by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) could increase domestic pressure on Ankara to launch a big offensive that Washington fears could have ramifications in the region.

The United States relies heavily on Turkish bases to supply its war effort in Iraq.

Erdogan said his government was ready for any world criticism if Turkey launched an attack against some 3,000 PKK rebels who use north Iraq as a base to attack Turkish targets.

Ankara blames the PKK 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.

Some analysts say an offensive became more likely after the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee approved the bill on Wednesday. Relations with Washington have hitherto been a strong restraining force on Turkey.

Turkey denies that genocide was committed but said many died in inter-ethnic fighting.

The PKK statement moved world oil prices back above $83 a barrel, traders said. The Kirkuk oil fields of northern Iraq feed export pipelines running north into Turkey.

ERDOGAN FACES MOUNTING PRESSURE

After a sharp escalation of attacks by Kurdish militants on Turkish troops, Erdogan's government, which faces pressure from the public and the army to act, has decided to seek approval from parliament next week for a major operation.

Erdogan said he wanted to secure approval now to avoid spending time later if and when an operation was warranted.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called Erdogan on Thursday to express her disappointment at the U.S. Armenian bill, which the White House has tried to stop.

The non-binding Armenian resolution by the congressional committee now goes to the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, where Democrat leaders say there will be a vote by mid-November. The resolution was proposed by a leading politician with many Armenian-Americans in his district.

Potential moves could include blocking U.S. access to the Incirlik air base, cancelling procurement contracts, downscaling bilateral visits, denying air space to U.S. aircraft, and halting joint military exercises, diplomats say.

Iraqi Defence Minister Abdul-Qadir Mohammed Jasim held talks with Turkey's ambassador to Baghdad on Friday to seek ways to improve bilateral ties in fighting terrorism.

Erdogan said Turkey respected Iraq's unity but if it did nothing to stop the PKK, considered a terrorist organization group by Washington, Ankara and the EU, then Ankara had to act.

Analysts and diplomats cast doubt on whether PKK rebels would leave their hideouts in the Iraqi mountains for the mainly Kurdish southeast of Turkey where tens of thousands of heavily armed troops and equipment are positioned.

"The guerrillas are not moving to the south (northern Iraq); on the contrary they are moving to ... places in the north," the PKK said in a statement published on Firat news agency.

The PKK said its fighters planned to carry out attacks against the ruling AK Party, the main opposition CHP and the police unless certain conditions were met. It did not elaborate.

[Prokomenos]

I could see it now a lot chaos going to happen in that region. We could all thank the good old America and their policies. I seriously hope that Turkey crumbles and its about time they get a taste of their own medicine.

[gorgona]

Originally Posted by Prokomenos
To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 1 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

I could see it now a lot chaos going to happen in that region. We could all thank the good old America and their policies. I seriously hope that Turkey crumbles and its about time they get a taste of their own medicine.

But why do you want them to crumble??? Aren't they are shining example of a "secular" state in the Muslim world? :nah:

[Prokomenos]

Originally Posted by gorgona
To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 1 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

But why do you want them to crumble??? Aren't they are shining example of a "secular" state in the Muslim world? :nah:

Yes you are correct I shouldnt of said that lol.