Saturday, July 21, 2007

Turkish prime minister warns of Iraq incursion after elections


Above: A Turkish M-60 tank.

Turkey's prime minister said his country could stage an incursion into northern Iraq if talks with Iraq and the United States after Sunday's general elections fail to produce effective measures against Kurdish guerrillas there, media reports said Friday.

Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was expected to visit Turkey after the elections to discuss Turkey's demand that Baghdad crack down on guerrillas of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, in northern Iraq.

"Anything can happen. (Military operation) could come on to the agenda," Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during a TV show on private ATV channel Thursday night, when he was asked whether a cross-border offensive would be considered after the elections.

"Whatever is necessary could be done immediately. We are capable enough to do it," Erdogan said of a possible incursion into northern Iraq, which he said the rebel group was using to launch attacks on Turkey.

Read the rest at the International Herald Tribune

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