Turkey Worried About Israeli Brutality to Palestinians. Turkey Invades Iraq and Kills 100 Kurds.

The Turks were very very vexed by the Israeli raid on a Turkish vessel in international waters. The Israelis argued that they had the right to attack the ship as it had open intentions of supplying Palestinian terrorists. "Palestinian" is the Israeli adjective for terrorist.

The Turks not be outdone have their own pet phrase for Kurds, "Kurdish rebels". Today Turkey raided Northern Iraq and killed 100 Kurds, rebels all of course. This will certainly enrage public opinion across Europe and most of the free world.


Turkish Raid May Have Killed 100 Kurdish Rebels
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NY Times
Published: June 18, 2010

Filed at 6:28 a.m. ET

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- Turkey's military said Friday it killed as many as 120 Kurdish rebels in an air raid on rebel hideouts in northern Iraq last month and a daylong incursion by elite commandos into Iraq this week.

Kurdish rebels have dramatically stepped up attacks in Turkey in recent months in an escalation that poses a dire threat to a remarkable attempt at ending one of the world's longest guerrilla wars. The Turkish military responded to the rebels by sending its warplanes across the Iraqi border to bomb Kurdish rebel positions after acquiring intelligence, apparently from the United States and recently purchased drones from Israel.

The rebels have long used northern Iraq as a springboard for hit-and-run attacks on Turkish targets in a campaign for autonomy in Turkey's Kurdish-dominated southeast. Several past Turkish air raids and incursions have failed to stop rebel infiltration through the mountainous border.

Maj. Gen. Fahri Kir, the head of the military's internal security operations, said another 30 Kurdish rebels were killed inside Turkey since March in anti-rebel operations. He said the Turkish losses were 43 in the same period. It was not possible to independently verify the figures, which the military says are based on intelligence reports, including interception of radio communication between the rebels of the Kurdistan Workers Party or PKK.

''We anticipate (PKK attacks) to continue incrementally,'' Kir told a news conference at the military headquarters.

The PKK declared an expanded war on June 1, a day after imprisoned Kurdish rebel chief Abdullah Ocalan said in a message communicated by his lawyers from the prison island of Imrali, near Istanbul, that his calls for rebel dialogue with Turkey had been ignored, so he was abandoning them and giving his consent to the rebel command in northern Iraq to determine the course of action.

Kir said the PKK aims to expand its attacks throughout Turkey in an attempt to create ''fear and chaos.'' The escalation of violence followed the major air assault on May 20 on rebel positions in Hakurk region of the northern Iraq in which several warplanes bombed a large area to kill about 100 rebels.

It was the largest air assault on the rebels since a 2008 ground operation into Iraq that saw many guerrillas return to bases along the border after Turkish units withdrew. The Turkish military says around 4,000 rebels are based just across the border in Iraq and that about 2,500 operate inside Turkey.

Hundreds of elite commandos crossed into Iraq for a daylong operation to hunt down a group of rebels who were escaping after an attack near the border town of Uludere. Kir said the commandos, who returned to their bases on the same day, killed five rebels but later intelligence reports suggested that the rebel casualties, also in a coordinated air strike, were about 20.

Kir said 545 rebels were believed to have defected from PKK last year as a result of Turkish operations and difficult living conditions on the mountains. He put the number of PKK deserters this year at 148.

Maj. Gen. Ferit Guler, the secretary-general of the Turkish military, stressed on Friday that while the military chased Kurdish guerrillas, ''the state should use economic, socio-cultural and propaganda measures in coordination at the international level for an effective struggle against terrorism.''

Turkey has waged a harsh crackdown during the grinding 26-year insurgency by the Marxist group PKK, which has been labeled a terrorist organization by the West for killing civilians in urban bombings and arson attacks and slaying government teachers, engineers and clergymen.

The government, however, has tried to distinguish its Kurdish citizens from those who support the rebel group and extended greater cultural rights to the Kurds such as broadcasts in Kurdish language on television, to try to win their hearts.

Turkey, however, rejects calls from the Kurdish rebels and politicians to allow education in schools in Kurdish. The language is also barred in parliament and other official settings on the grounds that its use would divide the country along ethnic lines.

The conflict has killed as many as 40,000 people and allegations of Turkish brutality and restrictions of Kurdish rights have stained the country's human rights record and hampered its bid to join the European Union. The military offensive has also cost hundreds of millions of dollars in defense spending and slowed construction of schools, hospitals and irrigation projects.

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13,000 Christians to flee Mosul, Sunni Arabs and Kurds blamed

"The Christians know very well armed groups belonging to some of the ruling political parties in Baghdad, are behind the 'veiled' attacks and the threats against them," wrote the bilingual newspaper. "Many, among them a great part of the Christians, are quietly pointing their accusations in the direction of the powerful Kurdish community in Mosul, who dominate the provincial council and constitute the majority of the city's armed forces. Observers say the Kurds want to show that Mosul cannot be controlled without them." AINA

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Killings force 13,000 Christians to flee Mosul

• UN agency sends aid to beleaguered community
• Sunni Arabs and Kurds blamed for violence ( I thought the Kurds were the good guys)

Aidan Jones
The Guardian, Saturday October 25 2008

The full scale of the persecution of Christians in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul became apparent last night when the UN's refugee agency said about 13,000 had been hounded from their homes this month - more than half of the city's Christian community.

The UN high commissioner for refugees (UNHCR) said it was sending aid to thousands of Christian refugees fleeing Mosul after a three-week campaign of killing and intimidation. About a dozen Christians have reportedly been killed in the recent violence, prompting many members of the community to seek sanctuary in churches and homes in outlying villages, or in Syria. "Many left with little money and need help," said Ron Redmond, UNHCR spokesman, in a briefing from Geneva. Christian neighbourhoods had been bombarded with threatening phone calls, letters and messages pinned to doors for months, but the killing began a few weeks ago, he said.

Recounting the story of a woman named Mariam, Redmond said she left her home when she heard of a Christian who was murdered.

"We were the hard core that never wanted to leave Iraq, even with the tense environment," the woman, who fled to Syria, was quoted by UNHCR as saying.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks, but suspicion has fallen on Sunni extremists intent on turning the historic city into a stronghold.

Local Sunni officials deny the allegation, pointing the finger at Kurdish militias who, it is said, want to empty the city of Christians before upcoming local elections. The Kurdish regional government also denies the claims.

Mosul, Iraq's third biggest city after Baghdad and Basra, has remained mired in violence despite the US military surge. Al-Qaida insurgents regrouped in the city after being flushed out of neighbouring Anbar province, taking advantage of its proximity to Syria.

After a period of relative calm roadside bombs and assassinations gradually returned to Mosul, giving it the reputation as the Iraq's most dangerous city.

The province of Nineveh, which has Mosul at its heart, has been home to Assyrian and Chaldean Catholics for 2,000 years. Before the fall of Saddam Hussein Iraq's Christian population numbered about 1.2 million.

But the upsurge of violence has prompted a mass exodus, with 20% of the 1.5 million Iraqi refugees in Syria thought to be Christians.

The return of sustained religious violence will also raise fears over Iraq's fragile security and lend weight to calls for the Iraqi government to give US troops a legal mandate to maintain security for a further three years.

Meanwhile a Shia cleric, Jalaluddin al-Saghir, yesterday endorsed a draft US-Iraqi security pact. "The country is passing through a most critical stage," Saghir said. "The politicians should think about Iraq's interests. They should not seek to break the unity of Iraqi society. This is not a game." The proposed agreement has been opposed by a number of critics, including the Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who say it infringes Iraq's sovereignty.

Turkey Television Claims 10,000 Troops Assault Iraq

"Come over for some tea why don't you and oh by the way we assaulted
your northern borders today."

There does not seem to be much of a fuss about this in the media. It certainly is not a "Gulf of Tonkin" moment. AFP reports that Turkish President Abdullah Gul invited his Iraqi counterpart Jalal Talabani to Turkey in a telephone call Thursday night as he informed him of Ankara's ground operation in northern Iraq, Gul's office said Friday.

"During the call, our president conveyed information on the objective of the ground operation which began Thursday night," the statement said.

Gul also underlined Turkey's intention to boost bilateral ties with Iraq in all fields and invited Talabani to Turkey, it added.

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Thousands of Turkish troops cross border into Iraq Times on Line

Turkish troops escalated their conflict with Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq today when thousands launched the country's first cross-border ground invasion since the 2003 American-led campaign.

The operation to hunt down guerrillas from the separatist PKK was announced by the Turkish military this morning, and came hours after Turkish warplanes and artillery bombed suspected rebel targets.

Turkey's private NTV television station said that 10,000 troops were taking part in the offensive and had penetrated six miles into Iraq, although these reports were unconfirmed by the military. Turkish troops have been massing on the northern Iraqi border for months.

The country's Dogan News Agency reported that the Habur border crossing, a major conduit for trade between Iraq and Turkey, had been closed.

Analysts believe that today's campaign is the biggest launched by Turkey against the Kurds since the 1990s, when a number of cross-border raids were carried out.

"The Turkish Armed Forces, which values Iraq’s territorial integrity and its stability, will return as soon as planned goals are achieved," the Turkish military said, announcing this morning's operation on its website.

"The executed operation will prevent the region from being a permanent and safe base for the terrorists and will contribute to Iraq’s stability and internal peace."

The military said its target was the PKK and that it would take care not to harm civilians. It warned that other militias in the area should "not act in enmity against the Turkish Armed Forces".

It is the first time the Turkish military have carried out a threat to launch a cross-border ground invasion following the decision of the Turkish Parliament to authorise the military to strike rebels in October.

International observers have expressed huge concern that any major confrontation between Turkey and the Kurds could lead to spiralling instability in Iraq, which has already been locked in sectarian violence since the 2003 invasion.

"Turkish ground forces have entered into northern Iraq for what we understand is an operation of limited duration to specifically target PKK terrorists in that region," Rear Admiral Gregory Smith, a US military spokesman, said, giving what appeared to be lukewarm American approval for the campaign.

"Turkey has given its assurances it will do everything possible to avoid collateral damage to innocent civilians or Kurdish infrastructure."

Turkey has conducted air raids against the guerrillas since December with the help of US intelligence, but it has only scarcely carried out so-called "hot pursuits" in which small units sometimes spend only a few hours inside Iraq.

It has been locked in a bitter battle with Kurdish separatists since the PKK began fighting for a Kurdish homeland in south-eastern Turkey in 1984. More than 30,000 people have been killed in Kurdish terrorist attacks and Turkish military operations since then.

Horror Vacui...translation: "There is No Way Out."

In c.350 BC, Aristotle proclaims, in opposition to Leucippus, the dictum horror vacui or “nature abhors a vacuum”. He was talking about physics and was proved wrong. In politics the theory works just fine. The forces are aligning for the anticipated realignment in the Middle East. That realignment was prompted by the removal of Saddam and the failure to as yet establish a viable successor in Iraq. We can try and get out but we will be likely sucked back in by the blow-back from the firestorm brewing. Anyone have any ideas?

Iraqi FM: Turkey massing 140,000 troops

BAGHDAD - Turkey has massed 140,000 soldiers on its border with northern Iraq, Iraq's foreign minister said Monday, calling the neighboring country's fears of Kurdish rebels based there "legitimate" but better resolved through negotiation.

The Turkish military had no comment to the remarks by Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, a Kurd from northern Iraq, and it was unclear where he got the figures. If they are accurate, Turkey would have nearly as many soldiers along its border with Iraq as the 155,000 troops which the U.S. has in the country.

Zebari's comments came amid calls by Turkey's military for the government to give it the green light to carry out military operations in northern Iraqi against the rebel Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK.

"Turkey is building up forces on the border. There are 140,000 soldiers fully armed on the border. We are against any military interference or violation of Iraqi sovereignty," Zebari said in Baghdad.

Turkey has been pressuring the United States and Iraq to eliminate PKK bases in Kurdish-controlled parts of northern Iraq and has said it will carry out a cross-border offensive if necessary.

"Turkey's fears are legitimate but such things can be discussed," Zebari said. ""The perfect solution is the withdrawal of the Turkish forces from the borders."

He added: "No one wants a new military conflict in the region."

He said there had been no "Turkey military violation until now," citing artillery shelling and Turkish surveillance overflights.

Turkey has long complained of U.S. inaction against separatist rebels, who have escalated attacks inside Turkey in recent months. Last week, Turkey's military chief asked the government to set political guidelines for an incursion into northern Iraq.

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul on Friday confirmed that detailed incursion plans were ready.

Zebari said that his government cannot send its troops to secure the border with Turkey at a time when U.S. and Iraqi forces are fighting a deadly insurgency that has killed thousands of people.

"Our military forces are over-occupied with securing the streets and we do not have forces enough to open a new front. We do not want any conflict. However, no military violation has taken place till now," Zebari said.

Turkey has been battling separatist Kurdish rebels since 1984 in a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people. There has been a recent surge in rebel attacks, and 67 soldiers have been killed this year. More than 110 rebels were killed in the same period, according to the Turkish military.

Zebari said the best way is to address Turkey's "legitimate security concerns" and revive the security and military commission which is made up of the united states, Iraq and Turkey.

Turkey has plans to move against Iraq Kurds -Gul

Like an exhausted and broke hedge fund, that bet on the wrong sides of all markets, the Bush Administration blew it on amnesty. He has lost many of his base supporters. Why he did it at a time he needed all the support he could muster for his Iraq policies, is inexplicable. Foreign leaders, themselves politicians, have noticed and so has Turkey.

Turkey is going its own way. Turkey has concluded that Iraq will collapse when the US begins to withdraw. It is on the verge of destabilizing the most stable part of Iraq.

ANKARA, June 29 (Reuters) - Turkey has prepared detailed plans for a cross-border operation into Iraq against Kurdish rebels and will act if U.S. or Iraqi forces fail to tackle them, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul was quoted as saying on Friday.

Ankara has on many occasions threatened to send troops into mainly Kurdish northern Iraq to hunt down thousands of militants from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) who use the region as a base from which to attack targets inside Turkey.

"The military plans have been worked out in the finest detail. The government knows these plans and agrees with them," Gul told the Radikal newspaper in an interview.
"If neither the Iraqi government nor the U.S. occupying forces can do this (crush the PKK), we will take our own decision and implement it," Gul said.

Washington has urged Turkey, a NATO ally, not to enter northern Iraq, arguing such a move would destabilise one of the few relatively peaceful regions of the war-shattered country.

The United States, like Turkey, classes the PKK as a terrorist organisation. But it says its forces are too stretched battling insurgents in central Iraq.
Iraq has also warned Turkey against making an incursion.

Gul denied any difference of opinion between Turkey's government and its powerful military on northern Iraq.

"A cross-border operation is a serious issue. State institutions need to act in harmony on such issues," he said.

The head of the Turkish military repeated his call this week for permission to go into northern Iraq, saying it would not end the PKK problem but would strike a big blow against the rebels.

More than 30,000 people have been killed in fighting between Turkish security forces and the PKK since the rebels launched their armed campaign for an independent homeland in mainly Kurdish southeast Turkey in 1984.

The Turkish army wants to press the Kurds.

(hattip dr and trish)
A bomb ripped through the cafeteria of Iraq's parliament at lunchtime on Thursday. It was meant to send a message that no institution, no armed real estate and no Iraqi government can protect an ordinary Iraqi. It also is obvious that it was meant to force the Iraqis to question the purpose of America being in Iraq.

An ordinary Iraqi would have to ask himself,” If America cannot protect legislators in the Green Zone, what can they do?"

A moment may soon arrive where it is every man for himself. Nothing would please al-Queda or Iran more. After four years of war and broken dreams, there is a declining US support and little enthusiasm for more of the same. It is difficult to come up with a scenario where more force can be brought to bear in Iraq from any additional US troops or any likely coalition.

Nowhere could be more volatile than in the north with the Kurds and Turkey. The Kurds may very well have decided that this may be their one opportunity to have their own state. The Turks object.

Turkish army demands incursion into Iraq
By Selcan Hacaoglu in Ankara The Independent
Published: 13 April 2007

Turkey's military chief asked the government yesterday to approve an incursion into Iraq, increasing pressure on the US and Iraq to fight Kurdish guerrillas.

But military action was likely to be used only as a last resort: it would strain ties with Washington and could spark a mutiny from Kurdish lawmakers within Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's own party ahead of elections in November, analysts said.

"An operation into Iraq is necessary," General Yasar Buyukanit said, adding that his forces were fighting more than 2,000 guerrillas in the border region operating from within Turkey.

Ankara has been battling separatist Kurdish rebels in southeastern Turkey since 1984. The Turkish military recently reinforced its troops in the predominantly Kurdish southeast.

Turkey is aware of the consequences a military incursion into Iraq could have.

"There is no way that our American friends would welcome such a move by Turkey," said Ilter Turan, of Istanbul's Bilgi University. "The idea is to persuade the Americans to address the problem more urgently than they have been."

In Washington, the State Department said Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried had expressed US concerns directly to Turkish authorities.

"The way we suggest it be dealt with is to have the Iraqis and Turkish governments working together to try to eliminate this threat," spokesman Sean McCormack said.

Ankara fears Iraqi Kurds are seeking an independent Kurdish state that could encourage separatist Kurds inside Turkey. Relations with Iraqi Kurds deteriorated further this week when Masoud Barzani, leader of the autonomous Kurdish region in Iraq, said Iraqi Kurds would retaliate for any Turkish interference by stirring up trouble in Turkey's southeast.

On Monday, Ankara demanded action against the Iraq-based guerrillas, vowing to do the job itself if Iraq was not able to. Turkey is a key trade partner of Iraqi Kurds and it could shut down the Habur border and stop electricity supplies to try and force the Iraqi Kurds into action.