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Turkey and Kurdistan: Behind the Non-Invasion
Blame it all on DEBKAfile.
Today the rumor-intelligence website ran with a story alleging that the Turkish military buildup in southeastern Turkey boiled over into a 50,000-troop invasion of northern Iraq -- designed not only to crush the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorists across the Turkish-Iraqi border but to send the distinct message that Kurdish independence is a pipe dream. DEBKA's story promised that "this is only the first wave of Turkish invaders, with more to come." From there, the AP and Reuters went to their sources in Ankara, Erbil (the capitol of Iraqi Kurdistan) and Baghdad, and ran with pieces suggesting that Turkish troops were engaged in what one anonymous Turkish official called "hot pursuit," but not an actual invasion. All of a sudden, it looked like the sum of all fears -- a full-fledged Turkish intervention in Iraq due to Kurdish ambitions -- was manifesting.
It wasn't. A White House official deferred comment to the State Department, which began this morning to put out the line that there was no indication of a cross-border operation by the Turks. A State Department spokeswoman, Janelle Hironimus, explained to Muckraker that the department was unaware of "any Turkish incursion into Iraqi territory," calling the story "false." (Efforts to contact Defense Department officials on the question were unsuccessful.) Nevertheless, Hironimus added that "Turkish forces are active in southeastern Turkey" due to a military build-up described as "part of the war on terrorism," referring to the PKK, which the State Department classifiesas a terrorist group.
For the Kurds, that military build-up is "worrisome" but not anxiety-inducing, according to Peter Galbraith, a former U.S. ambassador to Croatia and longtime confidante of the Kurdish political leadership. Galbraith spent the last week in Iraqi Kurdistan, meeting with top Kurdish officials -- including Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Kurdistan Regional Government President Massoud Barzani -- and found them "not blase about it, but there was not enormous anxiety either." Reached in Copenhagen right after he left Kurdistan, Galbraith told Muckraker that the Kurds thought it was "highly possible that the Turks might do something in the highly mountainous areas" that house "supposed PKK camps" but that there was "no expectation an invasion was imminent."
That's not to say that the threat of a Turkish invasion is gone. While such a move would represent an extreme step -- especially after Defense Secretary Bob Gates pointedly warned the Turks against "unilateral" moves into Iraq -- the Turks' military buildup along their southeastern frontier provides them with a none-too-subtle reminder to the Kurds of their vast military capabilities. Little of enduring significance occurred along the Kurdish-Iraqi border today, but as long as the Turks suffer attacks from the PKK and the Kurds desire their independence, the potential for conflict remains.
So what was the actual incident that sparked today's brief-but-intense international controversy? According to Reuters, this:
Jabar Yawir, deputy minister for Peshmerga Affairs in Kurdistan, said: "This afternoon 10 Turkish helicopters landed in a village in Mazouri, which is ... 3 km (2 miles) inside the Iraqi border. They landed with around 150 Turkish special forces.""After two hours they left and there were no confrontations with the PKK," he told Reuters. He said the village was in a PKK-controlled area.
Comments (16)
ialeggio wrote on June 7, 2007 8:00 AM:I assume you folks saw this, but just in case:
http://www.thenewanatolian.com/index.php
and this:
http://www.thenewanatolian.com/crossreader.php
"The General Staff has denied claims of the terrorist group PKK that they shot down a military helicopter. The General Staff said in a statement that the Turkish Armed Forces' helicopter did not suffer any damage."
bartcopfan wrote on June 7, 2007 9:46 AM:OK.
So what DID happen that this was a diversion from or provided cover for?
And no apologies from me for not trusting the Mayberry Machiavellis.
(Security Code: poison)
dario wrote on June 7, 2007 9:53 AM:Turks are just blufing about coming to Kurdistan because they know if they come they will lose the war. because Kurdish people will start to put up a heavy fight with them in the mountain and Kurds within turkey will raise against them and radical groups like Kurdish freedom hawks will get more supports and they turn turkey to hell just like baghdad..if turks are real man they should show their courage and come but I doubt it..with out nato 's weapon they are nothing. and weapons doesnot work in the Kurdish mountain,,so turks donot dare to come,
dario wrote on June 7, 2007 9:54 AM:Turks are just blufing about coming to Kurdistan because they know if they come they will lose the war. because Kurdish people will start to put up a heavy fight with them in the mountain and Kurds within turkey will raise against them and radical groups like Kurdish freedom hawks will get more supports and they turn turkey to hell just like baghdad..if turks are real man they should show their courage and come but I doubt it..with out nato 's weapon they are nothing. and weapons doesnot work in the Kurdish mountain,,so turks donot dare to come,
chris wrote on June 7, 2007 12:10 PM:Dario, they already have gone into northern Iraq (or Kurdistan, if you like) with some 50,000 troops about 8 (?) years ago. And they know very well what counter insurgency warfare in the mountains is like. I admit I don't see what they'll accomplish besides blowing stuff up and killing people, but they probably know that too. This is potentially a really bad escalation of the war.
runon wrote on June 7, 2007 1:10 PM:The object of a cross-border operation is to make it harder for PKK to conduct terror within Turkey by destroying its logistical support from bases in Iraq. Everybody is aware that you cannot eradicate a terrorist organization by one brute force operation but you can sure make life much harder for them. Nobody wants to upset diplomatic balances or cause instability or fall-out with our US ally. Unfortunately PKK has severely stepped up attacks and almost everyday there is someone dying because of this. Its fair to say they are forcing Turkey's hand into action, by creating public outrage at the killings.
Deniz Yeter wrote on June 7, 2007 2:30 PM:And Dario, may I remind you that there is no intension of an invasion of Kurdish people by Turkish public? We just want PKK out of Iraq and that's it really. We have repeatedly asked Kurdish authorities, Iraq goverment and USA to accomplish this and been told to be patient. Well, as the body bags are mounting, patience is running thinner.
The anti-USA sentiment is feeding from the question of "Is it OK to tolerate terrorists if they are not terrorizing USA?" The evidence of tolerance is in the article above. Peter Galbraith calls PKK bases "supposed" while Kurdish goverment authority says the village was in a "PKK-controlled area". How's that for aiding and embedding? :)
I'm from Turkey, we wouldn't invade the Kurdish land.
We'd just sell drugs and weapons we smuggled to terrorists, nationalists, and others (when I mean we, I mean the Turkish Government)
Then we'd use those funds to carry out our ongoing secret war against the PKK, Kurds, and others.
Look up the "Susurluk scandal," the Turkish government found that "All institutions of the state knew what was done."
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