"U.S. and other Western officials are warning the Turkish government to think twice about cross-border operations."
"Obviously, Turkey has the right to defend itself against terrorism," said one Western diplomat in Ankara. "But while doing so, it should not use a too-aggressive and heavy-handed military approach that could hurt its chances to join the EU." http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=986297&C=america Posted 07/25/05 15:10 U.S. Warns Ankara Against Cross-Border Raids on Kurds By UMIT ENGINSOY, WASHINGTON And BURAK EGE BEKDIL, ANKARA As Kurdish rebels step up attacks on Turkish security forces and holiday resorts, Ankara may be tempted to strike militant bases in northern Iraq. But U.S. and other Western officials are warning the Turkish government to think twice about cross-border operations. The separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), considered a terrorist group by Turkey and the United States, recently has intensified attacks against Turkish forces, killing more than 50 in the past two months, mostly using improvised explosive devices like those employed by insurgents in Iraq. Also, a bomb believed to have been placed by PKK militants tore apart a minibus packed with beach-bound tourists in the popular Aegean town of Kusadasi on July 16. The dead included a British and an Irish woman and three other people. Hoteliers feared travelers would scrap their holiday plans, and economists said the attack could damage a sector crucial to the Turkish economy, coming as it did less than a week after another bomb at the nearby resort of Cesme injured 20 people, including foreigners. Under public pressure, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said July 13 that Turkey may consider cross-border operations into northern Iraq to fight the PKK there. �There are certain things that international law allows. When necessary, one can carry out cross-border operations. I hope such a need will not emerge,� he told CNN-Turk television. In a recent development, a top Turkish military commander said July 19 that the United States had given direct orders for the capture of PKK leaders in Iraq. �They [the United States] have given the order for the capture of the leadership of the PKK terror group,� Army Gen. Ilker Basbug, deputy chief of the Turkish General Staff, told reporters in Ankara. �This is a positive development.� However, U.S. State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said July 19, �I don�t have any information to confirm [Basbug�s remarks]. � We cooperate closely with Turkey in confronting the terrorist activities of the PKK.� Basbug said that under international law, Turkey had the right to stage an incursion into northern Iraq against PKK militants, but that this was a last resort. But U.S. officials, who want to stabilize war-torn Iraq amid an ongoing Sunni Arab insurgency, said any Turkish cross-border assault into Iraq would be a bad idea. Dan Fried, assistant secretary of state for European affairs, July 18 warned Turkey against pursuing PKK militants across the border into Iraq, saying such a move could lead to �unintended consequences.� He did not clarify what he meant during his remarks on U.S.-Turkish relations at the Washington Institute for Near Eastern Policy, a Washington think tank. �I don�t think that hot pursuit is the best course of action,� he said. Fried, however, admitted the PKK posed a challenge to Turkey, and condemned attacks on �our friend and NATO partner.� Another U.S. State Department official said the Turkish Army had every right to fight the PKK inside Turkish territory. PKK Action Nearly 40,000 people, including members of security forces, PKK militants and civilians, were killed in the separatist Kurdish insurgency between 1984 and 1999. The fighting subsided in 1999, when the PKK�s chief was captured in Kenya with U.S. assistance. But the PKK broke its six-year unilateral cease-fire in June 2004, and fighting has resumed. Turkey�s military estimates there are more than 4,000 PKK militants based in northern Iraq�s Qandil mountains near the Turkish border. Most PKK militants now active in Turkey have infiltrated from there, the military believes. In the late 1990s, when Iraq was ruled by Saddam Hussein�s regime, Turkey�s Army occasionally carried out anti-PKK cross-border operations into northern Iraq. �I think the difference now is that they [Turkey] are dealing with a sovereign Iraqi government, and a lot of these discussions will have to occur between Turkey and Iraq, not between Turkey and the United States,� Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said July 14. Myers was responding to a question on what Washington�s reaction would be to a possible Turkish cross-border move during a news conference at the State Department�s Foreign Press Center in Washington. �I would think that Iraq would have a lot to say about any Turkish cross-border operations into the sovereign country of Iraq,� Myers said. Iraq�s interior minister, Bayan Jabr, during a July 18 visit to Ankara told NTV television that any Turkish hot-pursuit request should be approved by the Iraqi parliament. He said he personally did not favor it. �Turkey could do two things: It could ask for Iraq�s permission, which apparently will be rejected, or act unilaterally,� said Bulent Aliriza, director of the Turkey Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washinton think tank. �If it acts unilaterally and sends troops into Iraq despite U.S. warnings, it will mean big, big problems with Washington. But if ... the government fails to adopt a strong position, it will face mounting public pressure.� Though Washington recognizes the PKK as a terrorist group, American officials say U.S. forces now in Iraq have a higher priority to fight the Sunni Arab insurgency in the country�s central areas. The European Union, which Turkey wants to join, also is following the increased PKK violence warily. Many European countries denounced the terrorist attacks on Turkey�s holiday resorts, but the wealthy bloc wants the Kurdish question resolved mainly through political means. �Obviously, Turkey has the right to defend itself against terrorism,� said one Western diplomat in Ankara. �But while doing so, it should not use a too-aggressive and heavy-handed military approach that could hurt its chances to join the EU.� The European Union and Turkey are scheduled to kick off in early October formal talks for an accession process that will last at least 10 years in the best case. In the wake of French and Dutch referendums that rejected the EU�s new constitution, the public climate in Europe does not favor Turkey�s eventual admission. E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED], bbekdil@@defensenews.com. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> <font face=arial size=-1><a href="http://us.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=12hg0vqpm/M=362329.6886306.7839369.3040540/D=groups/S=1705323667:TM/Y=YAHOO/EXP=1122782045/A=2894321/R=0/SIG=11dvsfulr/*http://youthnoise.com/page.php?page_id=1992 ">Fair play? Video games influencing politics. Click and talk back!</a>.</font> --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. 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