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Erdogan weighs up call for Iraq incursion



By Upstream staff 

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was under increasing pressure today to order troops into northern Iraq following a series of deadly attacks on the Turkish military by separatist Kurdish guerrillas from their bases in Iraq.

Erdogan, who has brushed off repeated demands from the Turkish armed forces to allow troops to cross the border into Iraqi Kurdistan, called an emergency meeting of national security chiefs to weigh up their options, a move that some analysts told London's Guardian newspaper was tantamount to a war council.

Washington would be reluctant to see a Turkish incursion as it would complicate the US campaign in Iraq and destabilise the the Kurdish-controlled north, home of the massive Kirkuk oilfield and the starting point of a vital oil and gas trunkline which crosses into Turkey.

Two Turkish soldiers were killed yesterday by booby traps laid by guerrillas from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) - a group which has been branded a terrorist organisation by Ankara, Washington and the European Union.

On Sunday, 13 Turkish soldiers were killed in a gunfight with PKK guerrillas. Last week, in an ambush linked to the PKK, gunmen sprayed a bus with automatic fire, killing 13 civilians, including a seven-year-old boy.

Erdogan is known to be reluctant to pursue invasion, believing such a move would probably fail.

After a Cabinet meeting last night, Cemil Cicek, the Turkish government spokesman, told Reuters: "What is at issue here is how much any action we decide to take would bring us closer to a result."

Cicek did not rule out an invasion, but queried its "usefulness".

However, following Sunday's attacks, Erdogan signalled a change in policy from Ankara, saying: "Our campaign against terrorism will continue in a different manner."

He did not give details. To date, Erdogan has preferred dialogue with Kurdish separatists, an approach which has won him support in the Kurdish-dominated south-east of the country.

Last week the Iraqi and Turkish interior ministers signed an accord aimed at combating the PKK by trying to cut the rebels' funding and supply chains, as well as agreeing to extradite suspects detained for having links to the organisation.

Officially, Ankara refuses to recognise or deal with the government of Iraqi Kurdistan, although there have been unofficial attempts over the past year to engage with Massoud Barzani, the president of the Iraqi Kurdish region, the Guardian said.

Erdogan's options are also limited by strong US hostility to an invasion. While Turkish public opinion has been strongly anti-American since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, much of the logistical support for the US military presence in Iraq is provided via Turkey.

Relations are also under strain because of US Congressional moves to brand the 1915 massacres of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey as genocide.


Tuesday, 09 October, 2007, 07:20 GMT  | last updated: Tuesday, 09 October, 2007, 19:56 GMT

Under pressure: Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
 

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