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Turkey risks US anger over plan to attack
Kurds
19.7.2006
Published: 19 July 2006
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The Turkish army may
move into northern Iraq if violence by
Turkish-Kurdish guerrillas continues, officials said
yesterday.
Such a move could put Turkey on a collision course
with the United States, which has repeatedly warned
against unilateral action in Iraq.
But the Turkish government is facing increasing
domestic pressure to act after 15 soldiers, police
and guards were killed in fighting with the
guerrillas in the past week.
"The government is really in a bind," said Seyfi
Tashan, the director of the Foreign Policy Institute
at Bilkent University in Ankara. "On the one hand
they don't want things to break down with the United
States. On the other hand, the public is crying for
action."
Diplomats cautioned that the increasingly aggressive
Turkish statements were probably aimed at calming
public anger. But they also increase pressure on the
US and Iraq to act against the rebels, who are based
in northern Iraq's rugged Qandil mountains.
US officials in Turkey and Washington are said to be
pressing their Turkish counterparts to work with
them to fight the guerrillas rather than act alone.
Any operation is unlikely to take place before the
end of August, when the current military chief of
staff will be replaced by an officer widely regarded
as a hardliner.
The plans range from limited artillery and air
strikes on guerrilla bases to attacks by commando
forces or a broader ground offensive.
American officials, including the US Secretary of
State, Condoleezza Rice, have repeatedly warned
Turkey against entering northern Iraq, which is one
of the few stable areas of the troubled country.
independent co.uk
Southeastern Turkey:
North Kurdistan (
Kurdistan-Turkey) wikipedia
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