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I am sympathetic to the Kurdish situation in Iraq, as you may have gathered, but in no way am I sympathetic to the PKK. Their tactics are reminiscent of the tactics of the Viet Cong. Anyone that purposely targets innocents has already lost their souls. And whatever you have to do to get the guys that do these things is also just fine with me.

Turkey already kicked their asses and captured their leader. As a result the Kurds in Turkey made nice, and I believe (correct me here, a_Turk) that some concessions were extended after the ass-kicking to Turkish Kurds along the lines of limited local rule, or being able to use their own language in schools or somesuch. The Turks just don't want to have to do it all again, and are nervous about the Kurdish pot being stirred by the Iraq situation. They are also worried about mistreatment or displacement (from lucrative oil regions) of ethnic Turks in predominantly Kurdish northern Iraq. (I don't think the Kurdistan enthusiasts understand how much these ethnic groups are intermixed in the region.)

BTW, I think I am correct in saying that, until America defeated the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, the Turks, in their war against the PKK and other Kurdish separatists, were the only regular army in modern history to defeat a native, insurgent force in mountainous terrain.

>> I am sympathetic to the Kurdish situation in Iraq, as you may have gathered, but in no way am I sympathetic to the PKK.

Same here. These people are my brothers and sisters. But their leaders take advantage of them and support the PKK.

>> Turkey already kicked their asses and captured their leader.

Thank you CIA and Mossad for helping us nab the sucker from the Greek embassy in Kenya.

>> As a result the Kurds in Turkey made nice,

These guys are/were based out of northern Irak. They just firebombed a nursery in Turkey. The leaders in northern Irak are showing their litle "stick".

the Turks, in their war against the PKK and other Kurdish separatists, were the only regular army in modern history to defeat a native, insurgent force in mountainous terrain.

Say what you want, nobody EVER accused the Turkish military of being composed of sissies and softies!