Turkey backs attacks on Iraqi Kurds

The Turkish parliament on Oct. 18 gave its government the green light for cross-border attacks into Iraq to destroy Kurdish rebel bases, defying US calls for restraint. The prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, quickly pointed out that the vote did not signify an operation was imminent. But it does represent a blank check for military action at any time within the next year. The authorization was passed by 507 votes to 19, with only a small Kurdish party opposing it. It came just as President Bush was telling journalists in Washington: "We are making it very clear to Turkey that we don't think it is in their interest to send troops into Iraq." The president added: "Actually they have troops already stationed in Iraq, and they've had troops stationed there for quite a while. We don't think it's in their interest to send more troops in." Turkish TV quoted Erdogan as saying: "What's important is the parliament's decision, not what people say." The raids would be aimed at the Kurdistan Workers' party (PKK), which has stepped up attacks inside eastern Turkey in recent months. A senior PKK leader told the Guardian: "If Turkey conducts any attack or operation against Iraqi Kurdistan or Kurds anywhere we are prepared to defend ourselves and we have prepared well for such an occasion. We do not want a military confrontation but we will spread resistance throughout Turkey and Kurdish areas in Iraq, Iran and Syria." Last night Iraqi leaders sought to prevent an attack. Hours before the vote the prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, called Erdogan to ask for more time to curb rebel activities in Iraq. "Let's do whatever is necessary together," Maliki said, according to the Anatolian news agency. After the vote the Iraqi president, Jalal Talabani, an ethnic Kurd, called on both sides for restraint. "We consider activities of PKK against the interests of the Kurdish people first, and then against the interests of Turkey," he said in Paris. "We have asked the PKK to stop fighting, to end the so-called military activity." However, there were divisions between Kurdish politicians and the Maliki government on how to respond to any incursion. Sami al-Askari, a senior Maliki adviser, said it was up to the Kurdish fighters (peshmerga) and US troops to stop the Turks. "The Kurdistan regional government should not allow PKK fighters to infiltrate in to Turkey from northern Iraq," he said. "The Iraqi government will not use its army and police to stand in front of the Turkish army because security in that region is the responsibility of the multinational forces and the peshmerga." But a Kurdish MP in Baghdad, Mahmoud Othman, said any invasion by a foreign power should be treated as a violation of Iraqi sovereignty, adding: "It is the constitutional duty of all Iraqi forces to protect the borders." US influence on Turkey has been hit by the Iraq War, a perceived lack of US support for Turkey's counter-insurgency against the PKK, and a US bill declaring the mass killing of Armenians during the first world war to be "genocide." The congressional resolution, however, was losing momentum after Democrats withdrew their support following calls not to endanger the alliance with Turkey.