Dozens die in Turkey border clash

Source: BBC

At least 12 Turkish soldiers have been killed following an ambush by Kurdish rebels near the Iraqi border - with 32 rebels also killed, officials say.

The PKK guerrilla group claimed it had also taken "several" soldiers hostage, but this was denied by the government.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called a crisis meeting in Ankara, which is likely to consider whether to attack PKK bases in Iraq.

...

"There are plans to cross border" but "not urgently", Vecdi Gonul said after meeting US Defence Secretary Robert Gates in Ukraine.



Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7055004.stm

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on the verge of war...
from the Middle East to Europe...
anyone seen EU lately?

I hope their people are prepared to see widespread casualties among their troops.

Oh dear. I think our administration is about to have a wrench thrown into their gears.

I grabbed that for posterity, because it'll change as the OP keeps posting! DAMN!

demoleft (666 posts) Sun Oct-21-07 02:52 PM
Original message
Dozens die in Turkey border clash
Source: BBC

Seriously,this is not good news.What can the Americans do in this situation? What a cluster@#$%.

persuade the Iraqi Kurds to speak to the PKK and get those fellas released, in exchange for Turkey getting their ass back over the border and fucking STAYING there, and forgetting about our little Armenian dust-up. Of course, they'd HAVE to act like it's their idea--gotta give them that bit o'dignity in exchange for their getting over the Armenian thing.

Then we'd have to ask the Iraqi Kurds to not provide any aid to the PKK, which is another way of saying "Don't let anyone SEE ya doing it" because we know they'll do it anyway. So will the Iranian Kurds.

Plausible deniability, that's the best the Barzani Kurds will come up with in their dealings with the PKK , I think.

But I fear they now have the "Gulf of Tonkin" incident they were looking for.

as opposed to the Kurds.

Of course, the Iraqi President IS a Kurd, so we know how the lines of communication are flowing...

:sarcasm:

the Turks turned them over to the Kurds!

It wasn't a good time, I think that Greece tried to make a land grab for areas belonging to ancient Greece and inhabited by Greek peasants. The result was that the Greeks were forced out of those areas.

Seems anyone who wasn't a Turk was 'cleansed' :(

And when they came for the Kurds..."

it just seems like it's going to be an awfully tall order for Shrub Bush to prevent Turkey from entering Iraq, establish "peace" in the Occupied Territories, maintain the Surge, keep Pakistan from falling apart, and stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon all at the same time. The only thing to do is to dispatch Lady Bush, Charlotte Beers and Karen Hughes on a mission to fan out across the Moslem World in order to win Hearts & Minds.

It's the only way to be sure.

I'm a 3 year lurker

That's why he honored The Dalai Lama.

He wants China pissed-off enough to retaliate against us when we attack Iran.

Immanentizing the Eschaton.

If you'd called yourself HillBama Edwards, you'd be catching shit from three sides!!!!

Welcome to DU, anyhoo--keep the asbestos underwear handy!

Sun Oct 21, 2007 4:26pm EDT

ANKARA, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Turkey is ready to pay whatever price is needed to defeat Kurdish rebels based in northern Iraq, the president's office said on Sunday.

"While respecting the territorial integrity of Iraq, Turkey will not shy away from paying whatever price is necessary to protect its rights, its laws, its indivisible unity and its citizens," a statement from the president's office said. It followed emergency talks between President Abdullah Gul, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, the head of the military General Staff and other top security officials to plot Turkey's response after Kurdish rebels killed 17 soldiers in southeast Turkey ...

http://www.reuters.com/article/middleeastCrisis/idUSL21672541

Conveniently timed excuse for escalation?

the civilians are the rebels.

I find it funny how the threads headline;
Dozens die in Turkey border clash
misleads what the article is about.

to stop the fighting, finish the partition and officially
create Kurdistan.

I don't think the Kurds are going to be willing to settle
for anything less.

Here we go...