Turkish Special Forces Enter Iraq

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Boondocksaint375

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Turkish Special Forces Enter Iraq

After threatening to do so for the last few days, the Turks have made good on their promise to go after the Kurdish separatist organisation PKK in northern Iraq.

According to Russian news agency Novosti, based on rapports from local Turkish newspapers on Wednesday, units of the Turkish army have crossed the Iraqi border in a special operation against Kurdish militants.
The Yeni Safak newspaper reported that Turkish commandos supported by helicopters were chasing militants from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), and F-16 Falcon fighter-bombers and artillery were delivering pinpoint strikes at militant bases about 50 kilometers (30 miles) deep into the Iraqi territory.​
Zaman, Turkey's third largest newspaper, quoted a a government spokesman who claimed that Turkey's NATO allies the U.S. had been informed about the start of the cross-border operation. Turkey's military has as yet though not confirmed the media reports.


Having got parliamentary approval for cross border military operations last week, the Turkish government was signalling that that authority would only be exercised if the U.S. and the Iraqi government did not act to rein in the Kurdish separatist organisation PKK, that has been fighting a decades long guerrilla and terrorist campaign aimed at independence for the Kurdish minority population in eastern Turkey, and which maintains bases of operation across the border.

But with the spectacular ambush last Sunday, where PKK forces killed at least 12 Turkish soldiers, and took another eight hostage, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, would have been under enormous pressure from hard line factions in political and military circles, to do something.

It of course remains to be seen whether this incursion is just a limited special forces operation, or if it represents the beginning of a larger and more sustained campaign in northern Iraq.

It is however a situation fraught with peril, not least for the U.S., which on the one hand has clear obligations to Turkey, a fifty year ally and NATO member, but on the other has a vested interest in keeping the peace in the one corner of Iraq that has remained relatively stable and pro-American. The U.S. has also, according to unconfirmed reports, been actively supporting the PKK sister organisation PJAK, which is engaged in a similar campaign in neighbouring Iran.

http://www.bitsofnews.com/content/view/6342/
 
Hate to say it, but if we were on the other end of the table we would probably be doing the same thing.

Especially after the PKK are displaying photos on their website of several captured Turks....
 
Once again it goes to show the dream world we live in in regards to the middle east. It is made up of numerous tribes that are never going to live in peace with each other.
 
Once again it goes to show the dream world we live in in regards to the middle east. It is made up of numerous tribes that are never going to live in peace with each other.

We can do like we did with our tribes and distribute blankets.

Seriously, this isn't going to end well. Now what do we do? We're in a foreign country that was just invaded by an "ally" so the "ally" can meet their own goals? What an ugly situation.
 
Once again it goes to show the dream world we live in in regards to the middle east. It is made up of numerous tribes that are never going to live in peace with each other.

We can do like we did with our tribes and distribute blankets.

Seriously, this isn't going to end well. Now what do we do? We're in a foreign country that was just invaded by an "ally" so the "ally" can meet their own goals? What an ugly situation.


Time for the UN to get off it's ass and do something that it was originally designed to do. It wouldn't be the first time a whole region of the world was cut up into little pieces.
 
Time for the UN to get off it's ass and do something that it was originally designed to do. It wouldn't be the first time a whole region of the world was cut up into little pieces.

The UN is impotent - especially in this situation. The Turks did this before without sanction from their parliment - now they have it. :(
 
The UN is impotent - especially in this situation. The Turks did this before without sanction from their parliment - now they have it. :(

That's my point exactly. It has been succumbed to members nations that are not exactly allies of anything the UN stands for. They let anyone in and have a say. They either need to clean house and start doing what they are supposed to do or disband. They are nothing better than a waste of space NGO that doesn't get anything done except for giving money to bleeding hearts.

When NATO chose to move outside it's 'typical' AO and into Afghanistan, they could have started something and picked up where the UN has failed over and over. But some of the NATO members have in turn showed their weak minded ways and what are we to do now?

Even if it's just sanctions; something has to be done against Turkey for their actions. And the only organization that the world will listen to is the UN.
 
Most of the UN nations are in Iraq already..I couldn't see them exchanging thier Helmets for Blue ones...:2c:
 
Most of the UN nations are in Iraq already..I couldn't see them exchanging thier Helmets for Blue ones...:2c:

I'm not saying that they exchange their helmets for blue ones. But perhaps the nations that did not participate because the UN wasn't involved and that won't shut their mouths about the mess that the country is in; commit to a peacekeeping force to take over in the areas that have become "stable". Put UN observers on the Turkish border (it won't solve anything, but might shut those fuckers up), it then frees up coalition troops for other areas of the country. Canada is included in those countries that didn't commit, but I don't think we could physically afford a commitment in Iraq and Afghanistan.
 
I'm not saying that they exchange their helmets for blue ones. But perhaps the nations that did not participate because the UN wasn't involved and that won't shut their mouths about the mess that the country is in; commit to a peacekeeping force to take over in the areas that have become "stable". Put UN observers on the Turkish border (it won't solve anything, but might shut those fuckers up), it then frees up coalition troops for other areas of the country. Canada is included in those countries that didn't commit, but I don't think we could physically afford a commitment in Iraq and Afghanistan.


Sounds good to me. But unfortunatly you know and I know that won't happen.There is even rumor here that if they do decide to involve the UN in Iraq, we could be involved..

IMHO I couldn't see the UN getting involved in Iraq..
 
Can you expand on that statment please.What did they do so wrong?


Genuine Question btw

They were weak and ineffective, bowing to politics. They refused to go after Aided, necessitating the arrival of TF Ranger, and by all accounts that I've read were keen to avoid conflict at any cost. Somalia is a problem to this day and I hold the UN partly responsible due to their inaction.
 
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