Centcom dog does not bark at Turkey "invasion"

Sabrina Tavernise:

Turkey is stepping up its presence along its border with Iraq to levels not seen in years in an effort to root out Kurdish separatist guerrillas who take refuge in northern Iraq.

That means that as the American military struggles to control the violence in central Iraq, a second conflict could spill across its northern border.

And while reports this week of a large Turkish military push into Iraq seem to be untrue, the army is acting with greater urgency here in the southeast, home to a large part of the Kurdish minority, which accounts for one-fifth of Turkey’s population.

On Wednesday the military announced that it was establishing “security zones” in three districts, including Sirnak, east of here, a step reminiscent of emergency rule imposed on this area until 2002 in an effort to destroy a militant group of Kurdish separatists.

That group, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, has carried out violent attacks in Turkey since the 1980s, fighting for a separate Kurdish state. It has recently stepped up attacks against Turkish soldiers. Militants killed seven on Monday by hiding in a food delivery vehicle. Three forest rangers were killed Thursday in a land-mine attack.

“Every day they are attacking our soldiers,” said an official in Sirnak, a town north of the Iraqi border with several military bases nearby. “Somebody has to do something. Mr. Bush, you have to give permission: Let Turkish soldiers into northern Iraq.”

Both Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates have warned Turkey against military action, and Turkey is unlikely to buck its American ally. That would embarrass the United States and be seen as a broad indictment of its Iraq policy.

Since the early 1990s, Turkey has entered northern Iraq three times, with tens of thousands of troops, and it is clearly debating a repeat.

The threat puts the United States in a tight position between allies. Kurds are the Americans’ most trusted partners in Iraq. Turkey, a NATO ally, allows the United States use of an air base that supplies a large portion of central Iraq.

“Now the U.S. has to choose,” the official in Sirnak said, “Turkish people or Kurdish people.”

The Turkish military says that its presence along the border is simply part of regular spring exercises and that any move into Iraq would require Parliament’s approval.

The Turkish military is pressing the United States and the Kurdish leader in northern Iraq, Massoud Barzani, to take action against the militants. A Western diplomat said the primary difference from past years was how public the military was about its concerns.

“The general staff is playing a really dangerous game on the border,” said Mahmut Vefa, a lawyer in Diyarbakir, the provincial capital, and a former member of a Kurdish political party. “This is a message for northern Iraq, U.S.A. and the Kurdish people in Turkey.”

...

There is more.

I did not get very excited about the initial reports because of the lack of excitement from Centcom. If they were ignoring the reports then the stories were not having an effect on the deployment of US forces and were likely of little consequence. The story still appears to be more about posturing from Turkey than action. The Kurdish attacks most recently have been on Iran;s weapons shipments to Syria of missiles meant for Hezballah in violation of the UN ban. Iran is also attempting to supply Syria for a war this summer with Israel and is shipping material through Turkey. I find it interesting that the Kurds are using an indirect approach in attacking Iran where many Kurds are still oppressed by the religious bigots in charge of the country. A more direct approach to attacking Iran would probably suit US interest better, but this approach is probably even more frustrating for the ayatollahs.

Strategy Page explains what Turkey is really doing with Kurds.