ANKARA, Turkey – Turkish jet fighters bombed Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq early Sunday, Turkey’s military said, marking an escalation of force against the outlawed separatist group. An Iraqi official said the planes attacked several villages, killing one woman.
The nighttime offensive was the first confirmed time since the U.S.-led invasion that Turkish war planes have been used in Iraqi territory. Turkey has previously attacked the area with ground-based artillery and helicopters.
The fighter jets hit rebel positions close to the border with Turkey and the Qandil mountain, which straddles the Iraq-Iran border and is 60 miles from the frontier between Iraq and Turkey, the military said in a statement posted on its Web site. It said the operation was directed against the rebels and not against the local population.
The Kurds in Iraq would be smart to distance themselves from the PKK, but it is likely that the group is maintaining its support in Northern Iraq. The question is- if/when Iraq stabilizes and establishes a functioning economy coupled with the freedom in a federal system, will the Kurdish areas attract Kurds from Turkey, or will Kurds in neighboring countries agitate for similar freedoms at home?
Also, Turkey has upped the ante, by using attack aircraft instead of artillery strikes. What is the next chip they will throw in? Special Purpose Forces? MLRS?
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US/Turkey Relations
Good for Turkey! Terrorists are terrorists and if one has to choose the Kurds just are not that important to US interests. Turkey on the other hand is very important.
Before you jump up and down cheering on the Turkish Fighter Jets please take a moment to read this.
http://hevallo.blogspot.com/2007/12/look-into-these-kurdish-eyes-and-ask.html