Waving a Red Flag in Front of Three (at least) Turkish Army Corps
Quote:
Originally Posted by
tequila
Much more likely a direct response to the killing of 15 Turkish soldiers last week.
The House resolution will make any U.S. request to Turkey much more expensive politically.
The PKK
waves the red flag. This will not be unnoticed in Turkey.
If some of the PKK are looking for a fight, they've come to the right place. I just can't imagine why they'd deliberately bait the Turks. Do they actually believe that they'll be better off under Turkish Army occupation?:confused: There are at least 140,000 Turks on the frontier, and another 120,000 behind them engaged in keeping a lid on the local populations. Some of the Turkish generals have been champing at the bit for half a year, and the General Staff reportedly completed planning back in late June or early July.
It seems that almost all of the players, on both sides, are trying to drive the Turkish Government to kick over the applecart, and see what happens. Be careful what you wish for...:(
PKK strategy and Turkish intervention
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Norfolk
If some of the PKK are looking for a fight, they've come to the right place. I just can't imagine why they'd deliberately bait the Turks. Do they actually believe that they'll be better off under Turkish Army occupation?
Yes, they may well think that: it would embroil Turkey in a messy political situation, drive a wedge in the always sensitive relationship between Ankara and the Kurdish Regional Government (and Ankara and Baghdad, and Ankara and Washington), give them easier targets, accentuate repression of Kurds in eastern Anatolia, undercut moderate Kurdish politicians in Turkey, and generally spur PKK recruitment (not only among Kurds in Turkey, but also others--there are a striking number of Iranian Kurds among PKK forces in northern Iraq).
Attacks intended to spur repression or overreaction are a common hallmark of insurgencies (or terrorism).
The downside for the PKK might be less Turkish intervention, but the PUK and especially KDP deciding that they had best deal with the issue themselves rather than risk the Turks having a go.
Do as I say not as I do???
Here's a DoD press release. I find the folllowing extract rather interesting
Quote:
The Defense Department sent Eric Edelman, undersecretary of defense for policy and former U.S. ambassador to Turkey, to explain the situation in Congress to his opposite number in the Turkish government. But the situation on the border with Iraq is potentially more serious, Morrell said.
. . .
He said the U.S. government is sympathetic to the fact that Turkey is suffering PKK terrorist attacks, but the best way to deal with this threat is through diplomatic means.
“We have urged the Turks to show restraint,” Morrell said. “We understand their frustration, we understand their anger, but we are urging them not to engage in cross-border operations.”
Part of America's expressed national strategy regarding terrorism is that it is better to fight the terrorists in some other country than to deal with them inside our own boundaries. However, we don't want the Turks using that same strategy. Hmmmm :confused:
Kurds and pay - Examining PKK financing
Quote:
Key Points
l PKK financing has shifted from state support to self-financing through diaspora funding and
drug trafficking.
l Some PKK financiers were arrested in Europe, but what seemed a larger operation in early
2007 has lost momentum.
l Turkey's incursion into Iraq has not ended the PKK's operations, and such military action
will need to be supported by efforts to fight the group's European financing if the threat
posed by the organisation is to be undermined in the medium term.
http://www.silkroadstudies.org/new/d...803JIR-PKK.pdf
6 dead in gun attack on U.S. Consulate in Turkey
From CBC.ca
Quote:
6 dead in gun attack on U.S. Consulate in Turkey
Last Updated: Wednesday, July 9, 2008 | 9:57 AM ET
CBC News
Four gunmen opened fire on police guarding the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul on Wednesday, sparking a battle that left six people dead, officials said.
Istanbul Gov. Muammer Guler confirmed that three police officers and three of the attackers were killed in the city in Turkey, while another police officer and a tow-truck driver were injured.
Police are now hunting for the fourth attacker who fled in a van, while forensics teams are examining a shotgun left on the grounds at the scene. Police estimated 60 bullets were fired over the course of the gunfight, which lasted several minutes.
More...
I hope this wasn't the PKK...
I'm a big fan of the Kurdish people and their cause; and the PKK keeps making them look bad...but the U.S. consulate? Not really the PKK's Modus Operendi; makes me think it wasn't them.