Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Are you ready for this?Via THE NEWS BLOG: Turkey signals it's prepared to enter Iraq
By LOUIS MEIXLER, Associated Press Writer Tue Jul 18, 2:25 PM ET
ANKARA, Turkey - Turkish officials signaled Tuesday they are prepared to send the army into northern Iraq if U.S. and Iraqi forces do not take steps to combat Turkish Kurdish guerrillas there — a move that could put Turkey on a collision course with the United States.
Turkey is facing increasing domestic pressure to act after 15 soldiers, police and guards were killed fighting the guerrillas in southeastern Turkey in the past week.
"The government is really in a bind," said Seyfi Tashan, 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 and experts cautioned the increasingly aggressive Turkish statements were likely aimed at calming public anger and pressing the U.S. and Iraq to act against the Turkish Kurdish guerrillas. But they also said Turkish politicians and military officers could act if nothing is done.
posted by Quiddity at 7/18/2006 09:36:00 PM
3 comments
Way back before the war started I was arguing with a pro-war person. When I brought up the fact that there were Kurds in Northern Iraq and that there were scenarios where Turkey could get pulled in to Iraq due to it's Kurdish terrorist / guerilla problem....
This person didn't know about the Kurds. Or about Turkey's Kurdish issues (and Kurdish issues with Turkey, for that matter).
Didn't know about Shi'ia and Sunni, either.
He was still very pro-war however.
Lost touch with the guy. Wonder what he's thinking now.
And no, though they share intellectual characteristics, it wasn't G. W. Bush.
Lost touch with the guy. Wonder what he's thinking now.
I doubt very much that he's thinking at all. He certainly wasn't thinking back then.
Let's try the old switcheroo...
Switch in Turkey for Israel
Switch in Kurds for Hezbollah
Switch in Iraq for Lebanon
Switch in USA for Syria
Would the world tolerate that situation?
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