Turkey Ups The Ante

Turkey has stirred up the quagmire of Iraq, by threatening a cross border raid. A council of Turkey's top political and military leaders issued a statement yesterday allowing troops to cross the border, in order to eliminate separatist Kurdish rebel camps in the border area of Northern Iraq.

This idea, needless to say, is not welcome. The United States strongly opposes the idea, not least because this is one of the few areas in Iraq that is actually stable.

The office of Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, issued a statement saying that the offices and institutions of the Turkish government have been ordered "to take all economic and political measures, including cross-border operations when necessary, in order to end the existence of the terror organization in a neighboring country."

Ironically an agreement between Turkey and Iraq, during Saddam Hussein's rule, did allow Turkey to make cross-border raids without prior approval.

PKK rebels currently carry out attacks on Turkey, then disappear across the border to mountain hideouts in the predominantly Kurdish region of Northern Iraq.

Turkish Invasion?

As if Iraq were not already in a complete mess,it seems that things might get worse.

Turkey is becoming increasingly impatient at continued attacks made against it by by the Kurdish guerrilla group PKK (Kurdish Workers' Party), which is based mostly in Northern Iraq. Turkey, in response, has moved troops and tanks close to the border with Iraq.

Iraqi newspapers have expressed concerns that Turkey may be planning to cross the border in pursuit of the PKK guerrillas.

How bad can things get for the Iraqi people?