Turkey says troops crossing into Iraq

[babylonsister]

Source: AP

Turkey says troops crossing into Iraq

1 minute ago

ANKARA, Turkey - Several thousand Turkish troops crossed into northern Iraq early Wednesday to chase Kurdish guerrillas who operate from bases there, Turkish security officials told The Associated Press.

Two senior security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, said the raid was limited in scope and that it did not constitute the kind of large incursion that Turkish leaders have been discussing in recent weeks.

"It is not a major offensive and the number of troops is not in the tens of thousands," one of the officials told the AP by telephone. The official is based in southeast Turkey, where the military has been battling separatist Kurdish rebels since they took up arms in 1984.


more...

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070606/ap_on_re_mi_ea/turkey_iraq;_ylt=Av3CEY3qgH8QDOs9TIhIJorMWM0F

[Jacobin]

1. "several thousand troops"

And we're OFF!!!

And Cheney in the wings trying to provoke Iran into a military confrontation.

And Boosh, not happy with the current cataclysm, starting a new arms race with Russia.

cute.

[HereSince1628]

2. As a percentage increase, I'd say that represents a surge

of Turkish combat forces operating in Iraq.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

16. wanna bet they will have more success than our surge?

after all, the Kurds have been running daily hit and run raids inside Turkey - something our MSM forgets to report.

[sabra]

3. remember if we leave there will be "chaos"... :-(

[roamer65]

4. The ball is now in the court of the Peshmerga.

If they counterattack, then "here we go".

[sabra]

5. Update: Turk army says can't confirm Iraq incursion report

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L06935034.htm

ANKARA, June 6 (Reuters) - Turkey's military General Staff said on Wednesday it could not confirm a report that it had sent several thousand troops into northern Iraq to combat Kurdish militants hiding there.

"I cannot confirm this report," said a General Staff official, referring to the Associated Press report.

[TexasLawyer]

6. It's just a small invasion

no worries! :sarcasm:

[Massachusetts]

7. Inevitable

As has been reported by Juan Cole.

[sabra]

8. White House: "NO NEW ACTIVITY" IN NORTHERN IRAQ

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L06739043.htm

06 Jun 2007 15:45:56 GMT
Source: Reuters

HEILIGENDAMM-WHITE HOUSE SAYS U.S. OFFICIALS IN REGION CONFIRM "NO NEW ACTIVITY" IN NORTHERN IRAQ FROM TURKISH FORCES

[babylonsister]

9. Ha ha ha! And we're supposed to believe them? Too late. nt

[sabra]

10. might be telling the truth - that this isn't "new activity", been going on for awhile?

[HereSince1628]

13. Parsed ya know...this has been going on for at least a couple days

which allows them to say "nothing new."

Sort of like saying on June 7, 1944 that Allied operations at Normandy are not new activity.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

17. It wasn't new. It was 63 years ago, so there.

When a white house lies at every turn, they still wonder why we don't believe them anymore?

[lovuian]

11. Wake up Turkey has been getting ready to attack Iraq

for months...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=AH-IjStfVBs

Whats our military going to do about it???

[sabra]

12. Another Update: Turkish troops made "limited" operation into Iraq

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L06217398.htm

06 Jun 2007 16:18:34 GMT
Source: Reuters
ANKARA, June 6 (Reuters) - Turkish troops conducted a "limited operation" into northern Iraq in recent days in pursuit of Kurdish rebels, a military official said on Wednesday.

[NastyDiaper]

14. Between Turkey, Russia and Pakistan...

...Cheney may end up getting his wish after all.

[northernsoul]

18. Is that a scene from "The Day After"?

That mini-series scared the living @#$!!! out of me when I was a kid in the 80's.

[roamer65]

20. Either "The Day After" or "T3: Rise of the Machines". I remember "Day After", too.

Scared the snot outta me, too. Another mini-series I remember is "Amerika". Makes me wonder just how close the US is to that type of scenario.

[saigon68]

21. amerika-----hmmmmmm

[roamer65]

22. They never really did say what happened to the USA in the series, but...

America was divided into 4 or 5 administrative regions by a UN/USSR occupying force. I remember people in the series burning bundles of old US dollars in their wood stove to keep warm. The series reminded me of Lincoln's quote, something like "Only America can defeat America".

[saigon68]

23. Yes the series ended with a whimper

[coalition_unwilling]

25. Another Lincoln quote you might appreciate: "The best way to get

rid of an enemy is to make him a friend."

[NastyDiaper]

26. I Googled the image. Then stole bandwidth.

And didn't give credit, which I give now

Jar2:
http://www.jar2.com

:o

[rug]

15. Preemption doctrine.

[ohio2007]

19. 50,000 crossed in 1997

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8PJDM780&show_article=1

dunno how long they stayed but whatever they did , it didn't fix the problem

[sabra]

24. more: "what occurred was only a limited combing operation and artillery shelling"

http://66.111.34.180/look/english/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=4&NrArticle=47680&NrIssue=2&NrSection=1


Duhuk, Jun 6, (VOI)- Kurdistan Duhuk borders forces' chief Lieutenant Colonel Hussein Tamr denied any Turkish incursion into northern Iraq for chasing the PKK fighters.

"There is no Turkish incursion inside the Iraqi territories as mentioned by media reports," the Kurdish official told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
Lieutenant Colonel Tamr added "what occurred was only a limited combing operation and artillery shelling in the Turkish Shamzi Nan area opposite to Mirga Sur region inside the Iraqi territories."

Earlier on Wednesday, media reports said that Turkish forces had crossed the borders into the Iraqi territories to chase the Turkish Kurdish Workers' party (PKK) fighters.

[Algorem]

27. Can Turkey sandwich them against the mountains and pepper

them with artillery fire? This may o may not work.

[Vilis Veritas]

28. Wasn't Bilderberg just concluded?

Interesting timing. Secret conference just concluded. Now this report of movement.

:shrug:

Peace

[Eugene]

29. AFP: Baghdad, Ankara, WHouse deny reports of Turkish incursion

Source: Agence France-Presse

Baghdad, Ankara, WHouse deny reports of Turkish incursion

by Dave Clark
1 hour, 57 minutes ago

BAGHDAD (AFP) - The foreign ministers of both Iraq and Turkey,
as well as the White House, all denied reports Wednesday that
Turkish troops had launched a cross-border raid to strike Kurdish
rebel bases in Iraq's northern highlands.

Turkey has stepped up its military presence in its own southeastern
region, Iraq's Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told AFP, but both he
and his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul denied there had been a
recent incursion.

Ankara suspects northern Iraq's Kurdish authorities of turning a blind
eye to cross border attacks by separatist fighters from the Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK), which is fighting for self-rule in southern
Turkey.

-snip-

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070606/wl_mideast_afp/turkeyiraqkurds_070606202120

[maddezmom]

30. when they deny stuff

I always think it's true :crazy:

on edit:

Turkish raids into Iraq raise concerns By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press Writer
17 minutes ago



WASHINGTON - Turkey's new incursion into northern Iraq to strike back at Kurdish guerrillas delivered a diplomatic warning shot to U.S. and Iraqi leaders struggling to hold off a divisive conflict.

The latest raid by Turkish troops raised concern among U.S. military officials from Baghdad to the Pentagon, even as they first denied and then downplayed the border crossing in one of Iraq's most peaceful regions.

Analysts said the move signaled growing impatience by the Turks, who have pressed the U.S. to crack down on the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party, also known as PKK, which launches raids into southeast Turkey from hideouts in Iraq.

"This is a shot across our bow and, more importantly, the Iraqi Kurds' bow — all of us who hope that this doesn't escalate," said Peter Rodman, who until earlier this year was a top international policy adviser at the Pentagon.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070607/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_turkey_iraq_1;_ylt=AtVgLlJGw6thRnIhStxGgPJX6GMA

[Eugene]

31. Iraq incursion needs parliament approval-Turk PM

Source: Reuters

Iraq incursion needs parliament approval-Turk PM
07 Jun 2007 07:19:18 GMT
Source: Reuters

ANKARA, June 7 (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip
Erdogan has repeated that parliament's approval was needed
for an incursion into northern Iraq after reports of a cross-
border military operation against Kurdish rebels.

Turkey's foreign ministry and military denied a report on
Wednesday it had launched a major incursion into northern
Iraq in pursuit of separatist Kurdistan Workers Party
(PKK) rebels.

"A parliament decision is necessary to launch a cross-border
operation and the steps would be taken accordingly," Erdogan
was quoted as saying by state-run agency Anatolian late on
Wednesday.

He said, however, any operation would not be announced
publicly.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L07692626.htm