Al Jazeera English
At least eight Turkish paramilitary police have been killed after Kurdish fighters attacked their headquarters in eastern Turkey, security sources say. Monday's attack, blamed on the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), came amid speculation that Turkey may send troops into neighbouring Iraq to attack Kurdish separatists based there. The US has pleaded for Turkey to avoid military action. Three people thought to belong to the PKK drove into the gendarmerie complex in the eastern province of Tunceli, opened fire and threw a grenade, killing eight and wounding six more. One fighter was also killed, the security sources said. The gendarmerie is a paramilitary force responsible for security in rural areas of Turkey.
Everyone wants to know if Turkey will invade Iraq. The answer is embedded in this article. Turkey has troops in Iraq and they have routinely engaged in hot pursuit engagements. They will continue with perhaps a bit larger incursion. Indeed, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul asserted it's right to take all measures necessary to deal with the PKK.
The Daily Star
Turkish forces shelled a mountain stronghold of Turkish Kurd rebels in northern Iraq on Sunday, shortly after US Defense Secretary Robert Gates cautioned Turkey against sending troops into the area. The latest attack also comes a day after Iraq's prime minister and the president of the country's northern region hit back at Turkish invasion threats, and called for diplomacy to solve the problems.
Sunday's shelling targeted Haji Umran, a mountainous area which fighters of Turkey's separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) use as a springboard to carry out attacks in Turkey.
Residents told Reuters the attack lasted about 30 minutes and caused no casualties.
"There were some strikes from Turkish forces on areas next to the Turkish border, but until now there has been no Turkish military invasion of Kurdish lands in Iraq," Massoud Barzani, president of Iraq's Kurdistan region, told a news conference Sunday.
Iraq's president, Jalal Talabani, also a Kurd, told the same briefing that "we do not accept interference in others' affairs and we do not accept interference in our affairs."
Last week, Turkey moved tanks near to the Iraqi border after bomb attacks killed 12 Turks. Ankara swiftly blamed the PKK for the bombings and said its troop movement was routine.
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, on a trip to Asia, urged Ankara not to resort to military action to solve the crisis. "We hope there would not be a unilateral military action across the border into Iraq," Gates told a news conference.
[..]Turkish commandos occasionally stage so-called "hot pursuits" of the rebels, who operate in small bands, carry little food and know fresh water sources in the region. Those pursuits are limited in time and scope.
Turks accuse Iraqi Kurds, who once fought alongside the Turkish soldiers against the PKK in Iraq, of supporting the separatist rebels and worry that the war in Iraq could lead to Iraq's disintegration and the creation of a Kurdish state in the north.Turkey also is concerned that Iraqi Kurds' efforts to incorporate the oil-rich city of Kirkuk into their self-governing region in northern Iraq could embolden rebels seeking self-rule in southeast Turkey.
Turkey already has more than 1,000 troops deployed mainly in the Suleimaniyya area in northern Iraq, since the last major incursion a decade ago. The troops run several liaison offices in the region from where they collect intelligence and monitor rebel activities in the region. On Friday, Iraqi Kurds questioned some Turkish officers in civilian clothes at gunpoint, according to the Turkish military.
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