Posted on 11/11/2004 3:43:19 PM PST by datura
| FOCUS ON TURKEY |
Turkey warns U.S. it plans to invade northern Iraq shortly after elections
ANKARA — Turkey's military has begun preparing for what officials warned could result in a major invasion of neighboring Iraq.
Officials said the Turkish General Staff has drafted plans for an invasion by at least 20,000 troops into northern Iraq in early 2005. They said the General Staff has urged approval from the government of Prime Minister Recep Erdogan and discussed the proposed invasion with the United States.
"The current phase is to show the United States that we're serious," a Turkish government source said. "After the Iraqi elections in January, the Turkish military will be ready to move."
The military has called for a massive operation in northern Iraq to prevent Kurdish militias from controlling the area. The General Staff has been particularly alarmed by the reported Kurdish effort to drive out ethnic Turks from Kirkuk, the oil capital of northern Iraq and long claimed by Ankara.
Under the Turkish plan, the military would deploy at least 20,000 Turkish troops in an enclave south of the Iraqi-Turkish border. The force would focus on eliminating the Kurdish Workers Party and ensure the return of Turkmens to Kirkuk.
About 3,000 PKK fighters are said to be based in northern Iraq and have been sending insurgents and weaponry for attacks inside neighboring Turkey.
The United States has refused numerous Turkish appeals to eliminate the PKK strongholds.
On Oct. 14 Erdogan and his cabinet reviewed the General Staff's plan. That meeting, attended by Chief of Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok and Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul, discussed the rapid deployment of up to 40,000 troops in northern Iraq.
A scaled-down version of the military plan was discussed in the national security council on Oct. 27. The officials said that over the last week some units have already been deployed along the Iraqi-Turkish border.
Officials said the General Staff has sought to prepare two army divisions to cross the Iraqi border within 18 hours of any approval of the operation.
The first goal of the ground operation, supported by fighter-jets and attack helicopters, would be to destroy PKK strongholds in the Kandil mountains in northern Iraq.
The General Staff has warned the cabinet that Ankara could no longer ignore the Kurdish threat. Officials said the military has determined that Kurds from Iran and Syria have bolstered support for the PKK.
Iranian and Syrian Kurds, they said, have participated in PKK attacks against police and military targets in southeastern Turkey over the last week.
Officials said the General Staff has sought to obtain U.S. approval for the operation in northern Iraq. But Washington has not provided implicit approval.
The Erdogan government has sought to delay any Turkish military operation until after the European Union summit on Dec. 17. The government intends to spare the EU any pretext to delay a date for accession.
Officials said the Peshmerga are digging tunnels and establishing outposts outside Dahouk, near the Turkish border.
>>>"WTF are these idiots thinking!" bump
If Turkey is an EU member, do we declare war on France?
Hoppy
The Turks are rattling their bluff sabres in hopes of getting some goodies from Uncle Sugar.
"
What should the US do, shoot them when they come across the border? "
No, Just station two carriers off shore. Move all our aircraft out of the turkish bases (don't leave hostage forces on Turkish soil), and put the word out that Ankara will be our first target.
Turkey refused to help the US in Iraq. Now Turkey wants to attack Iraq to control the Kurds, who became our allies. Not a smart move on Turkeys part, at least in the long run. That boneheaded plan needs to be reconsidered.
WHO said this..where is there any verification of this?
The hell with Turkey. The Duelfer report showed they were neck-deep in skirting the UN sanctions on Iraq. They also refused to let our 4th ID enter Iraq from the North at the start of the war...despite earlier promises to do so. We need to make it clear to them that *any* incursion into Iraq by *any* country in the Middle East will be dealt with using the full force of the US military.
I KNEW this would happen. Everytime I've played a world scenario on Civ 3, Turkey has ALWAYS invaded Iraq.
Geo Strategy Direct is Bill Gertz's web site for his intelligence gathering company. They are probably the most accurate of all the private intel groups, having made many discoveries far ahead of most international or even foreign national intelligence services.
Yes. And we should declare war on France even if they aren't in the EU.
Like a motion to adjourn, declaring war on France is ALWAYS in order!
You bet.
An invasion of northern Iraq by Turkey, while unlikely, could serve U.S. and even E.U. purposes. It would give the U.S. reasonable cause to smack Iran (for supporting the invasion). And it would give the E.U. an excuse to remove Turkey from the track of E.U. membership. The E.U. has lately been waking up to the dangers of unrestricted trade and open borders with a country of 70+ million muslims.
They are thinking: "Those oil fields around Kirkuk sure look tempting. Maybe we can grap them while everything is still in turmoil."
Make my day!
No doubt the Turks have plans for invading all neighboring countries. However, they didn't cooperate with us in moving the 4th Infantry Division into Iraq so they can go screw themselves ~ now, if the Iranians need a small corridor so they can invade Turkey and place atomic landmines in the Eastern march areas so that Turkey is no longer a threat to Iran, that could probably be arranged, all things considered, and after Iran gets rid of the Mullahs of course!
This is BS
If the U.S. handles this right and doesn't cave to Turkey's aspirations this could unite Iraqi's while at the same time making them generally more friendly to the U.S., although this may just be restricted to the Kurds. It depends on how Shiites think about Turks invading Kurdish Iraqi territory. Perhaps they think of themselves as separate and don't consider the Kurds worthy of any kind of defense.
It sounds like an extortion attempt for more US $....Turkey would have too much to lose if they tried this.....we also still have an Air Force base still there.
PING Cause I'm curious as to your take on this...
This is BS why? Because you say so? Bill Gertz's reputation isn't like Debka or STRATFOR.
For instance, how many of you doubt his reporting on Russian forces removing the Iraqi WMDs? During the "ammogate" crap the NYT threw at us during the elections, it seems that everyone agreed with Mr Gertz then.
Just because it doesn't fit your personal ideas of the situation on the ground there, doesn't mean it's BS.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.