The Turks try a test case on the Iraqi border

The Turks have long maintained their right of "hot pursuit" allows them to follow PKK members into Iraq. This has gone largely without challenge by the US, and with relatively minor complaint from the Iraqi government and the Kurdish authorities in Iraq.

But at what point does it stop being pursuit?

Several thousand Turkish troops crossed into northern Iraq early Wednesday to chase Kurdish guerrillas who attack Turkey from bases there, two Turkish security officials said. Turkey's foreign minister denied its troops had entered Iraq.....

One official said the troops went less than two miles inside Iraq and were still there in late afternoon. "It is a hot pursuit, not an incursion," one official said.

Maybe I'm wrong, but "several thousand troops" targeting bases not individuals does not constitute pursuit. This is an incursion, and, I would argue, a test case for future operations.

I would bet the Turkish military is watching the reactions of the US, Iraqis, and Kurds far more closely than the results of this operation.

(The Turkish PM denies this has taken place. Pentagon officials say they have seen nothing yet, and the White House said there has been "no new activity" to justify the press reports.)

Later: The Kurdish regional authority denies any incursion.

So, we have Turkish security officials anonymously telling the AP an incursion took place, but everyone else says it didn't. Even if there was no incursion, these statements could still constitute a Turkish "test case" to guage reaction.

It's extremely fuzzy what's going on.

Later Update: A newer AP version has the incursion at "hundreds." Three different Turkish officials, three different reports, "several thousand," "not in the tens of thousands," and "600 commandos.... backed up by several thousand troops along the border."

"The officials stood by their statements despite denials from Turkish and Iraqi officials."

Maybe the last update: From yet another later AP version:

An Iraqi Kurd security official in the Shanzinan area said 150 Turkish soldiers occupied a mountain about a half mile inside Iraq for an hour and then left. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said 200 other Turks staged a similar cross-border operation around the same time in the nearby Sirzeri area.

And, "Turkish authorities rarely acknowledge such military operations against the PKK, but the army has conducted brief raids across the border in the past."

Last One: From Reuters: "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."

Okay, one more: From an Iraqi source via Iraqslogger: "a group of Turkish military leaders made a “reconnaissance” flight into Iraq.

Elaph published a statement by Talabani’s Patriotic Union of Kurdistan stating that 10 Turkish choppers made a landing inside Iraqi Kurdistan, then flew back north. The helicopters carried top military officials, the statement claimed, including the head of the Turkish land forces. Eyewitnesses in the area also said that large concentrations of Turkish troops are massing across from the Iraqi borders, especially in the area facing the province of Dahuk, which would be the likely route for a Turkish invasion, Elaph claimed.

Treat this last one as rumor, but it is the statement by the PUK.