Turkey
It's really no surprise that the Turkish Paliament will vote to authorize cross border military action into northern Iraq. The internal politics of this almost demand it. PKK guerillas are repeatedly conducting attacks and killing Turkish soldiers inside Turkey.
The authorization is almost mandated by the situation. The thing to watch is what the Turkish government does with that authority, and, thus far, they're saying an incursion is not imminent.
The authorization is almost mandated by the situation. The thing to watch is what the Turkish government does with that authority, and, thus far, they're saying an incursion is not imminent.
posted by mikevotes at
7:55 AM
4 Comments:
One more PKK attack and the Turks will go in. They want the world to know they are being deliberately provoked.
By
Anonymous, at 10:32 AM
I agree with that, but I think it will be some sort of limited, token incursion, just another step along the political pressure line.
I don't think they're going all the way in on the next event, but I do think their next move is some type of cross border response big enough to draw alot of attention and concern.
But at the same time, they watched the far better equipped Israelis stall out against Hezbullah, and that was without all those ridiculous mountains on the Iraq side of the border.
By
mikevotes, at 11:13 AM
Yes the Kurds are at home in the mountains. I'm no military strategist but if I was the Turks I'd grab a big piece of Kurdish property and use it as a bargaining chip. I think the real problem is PKK support in Kurdistan.
By
Anonymous, at 11:34 AM
Oh, definitely, and the American and Iraqi(Shia) unwillingness to do anything to limit the Kurds because they need them for the Iraq problem.
And as for tactics, the Kurds in the mountains will be like the Taleban in the mountains except that the Turks will have limited air support because they will be acting in Iraq. (close air helicopters is probably all.)
It's a very difficult proposition for the Turks, so that's why I'm guessing their first step will be to step in and step out, and hope that that garners the desired result.
It would be hard to hold territory there because they would have no access to limit easily obtained weapons coming up from the south, and the Kurds will likely have full support from civilians on both sides of the border.
By
mikevotes, at 1:03 PM
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