Friday, June 01, 2007

Turkish General says fighting Iraqi armed forces a possibility

Left: A Turkish soldier stands guard in front of a tank loaded onto a military truck at the border with Iraq on Tuesday.

Turkish troops could find themselves fighting Iraqi forces that control northern Iraq if they launch a crossborder operation to strike at Turkish Kurd rebels based there, Turkey’s top general said May 31.

The chief of general staff, General Yasar Buyukanit, said he favored an incursion into northern Iraq to clean up Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) bases there, but said the order to do so must come from the government.

“The political authorities must determine whether, once we go in (to northern Iraq), we act only against the PKK or if something will happen with Barzani as well,” he said, referring to Massud Barzani, who heads the Kurdish autonomous region’s government.

He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an international military symposium at the War Academy here.

Read the rest at Defense News

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