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Born at the Crest of the Empire

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

The Turks "token incursion" timed to Rice's visit to the Kurds.

(AP) 300 lightly armed Turkish soldiers made a token incursion 1.5 miles into Iraq, not coincidentally (Reuters) timed to match Condi Rice's visit to the Kurdish leaders in Kirkuk, some 120 miles away. (AFP) "The area they entered is a deserted area and there is no Iraqi force or peshmerga deployed there."

The Turks were sending a message,
Sunni Arabs ended a yearlong political boycott earlier this month in Kirkuk... under a deal that sets aside government posts for Arabs. It was the biggest step yet toward unity ahead of a referendum on the area's future.

Rice was highlighting that development, although a separate ethnic group is still boycotting the provincial governing council, and the new role of the United Nations in resolving the future of disputed Kirkuk.


The UN representative is hoping to hold the the Kirkuk referendum by the end of 2008, but such a referendum would require the passage of the Provincial Elections bill (one of the "benchmarks, remember those?) which is still mired in the Iraqi Congress.

And, going back to yesterday's post on the US taking blame for the Turkish actions, the WaPo has a frontpager being sourced to "Pentagon officials."
The United States is providing Turkey with real-time intelligence that has helped the Turkish military target a series of attacks this month against Kurdish separatists holed up in northern Iraq, including a large airstrike on Sunday, according to Pentagon officials.....

The United States is "essentially handing them their targets," one U.S. military official said. The Turkish military then decides whether to act on the information and notifies the United States, the official said.

Kinda hard to distance from that.

7 Comments:

  • So Kirkuk has become a job for the UN. That will be interesting.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8:45 AM  

  • I found that interesting as well. I hadn't heard that before.

    My question is what Condi Rice was doing in Kirkuk in the first place. To soothe the Kurds over the bombings yesterday or broader cooperation with the Turks?

    Trying to support the UN, or get the US out of the blame for what's going on? Trying to get some Iraqi government measure pushed forward? Looking for concessions?

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 9:04 AM  

  • I think bottom line it will always be hard to get Kirkuk oil to market without Sunni Arab and Turkish cooperation. The pipeline to Haifa will always be a dream.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9:23 AM  

  • Barzani unhappy with Rice now I see.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7150355.stm

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 10:56 AM  

  • Agreed. The Turkish route is by far the best over the longer term. Perhaps that's why the US is assisting them.

    And, Barzani's just trying to stay on the horse. He has to criticize.

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 11:30 AM  

  • Reading the Turkish press they seem to think the US is just being realistic. They see themselves as a regional superpower.

    Barzani is a separatist like most Kurds.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:33 AM  

  • Yeah, I know about Barzani, Just trying to make the point that every Kurdish leader has to criticize. That's the tone.

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 1:26 PM  

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