Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari
Turkey Shells North Iraq Border -Kurdish Official (click here)
Iraqi Foreign Minister said last week he wanted members of PKK fighting for a Kurdish homeland to leave northern Iraq as soon as possible.
The Turkish military shelled the Iraq border region early on Sunday, but there were no casualties, a Kurdish military official said.
While Turkish shelling of the border area is not unusual, tension has been growing since Turkey's parliament authorised troops last Wednesday to conduct cross-border incursions into northern Iraq to hunt down rebels using the region as a base.
The leader of Iraq's largely autonomous Kurdish region said it would defend itself if Turkish forces launched an incursion and attacked Kurdish targets....
The USA and Iraq does not have to respond except to seek those out that have committed the crimes of murder. If Turkey invades Iraq they are the enemies of the Iraqi nation and the people there. The USA State Department should be holding continuous talks with Turkey and the Northern Iraqi Kurds to resolve these issues.
This is NOT an act of war. Israel has attacks like this all time. They are not right, they are not legal, but, it is NOT an act of war.
Turkey Demands U.S. Action Against Kurdish Rebels in Iraq (click here)
The Turkish prime minister said he expects the U.S. to take action against Kurdish rebels hiding in Northern Iraq, reported Reuters, in a sign Turkey may reconsider its parliament's vote to attack separatists in the neighboring country."We expect the coalition forces in Iraq, above all the Americans, to take steps in the current situation," Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told Turkish television late on Friday. "These steps must be taken to ensure we get good results in the fight against the terrorist organization in northern Iraq."Erdogan said he expected more assistance from the U.S. than from Iraq, reported the news service. Baghdad, he said, has little clout in the Kurdish controlled northern region.Washington and Baghdad have urged Ankara to cancel its plans for military operations in Northern Iraq for fear it could destabilize the region. The Turkish government, however, is under public pressure after a series of attacks launched by the Kurdish Workers Party, PKK, from Iraq.According to Reuters, Erdogan said he would discuss anti-PKK measures with U.S. President George W. Bush when they meet in Washington in early November.Western diplomats told Reuters that Turkey is reluctant to attack Kurds in Iraq because it could disrupt security, economic and diplomatic ties. Parliament's vote this week would keep the separatists guessing and put pressure on Washington and Baghdad to take action.
The worm has turned and the Shi'ite majority in Iraq is feeling the sting of the USA genocide. If Turkey follows this incursion with an invasion they will be inviting Iran, Russia and potentially China and Pakistan to war. Turkey needs to withdraw from northern Iraq and the Kurdish province therein, return to it's borders and defend it's sovereignty. The Shi'ites feel threatened in a way they never have before and in order for sanctions to work in Iran and avoid a larger destabilization of the region, the Turks need to stop their border crossings. Such incursions are aggression and if continued, there is no doubt it will be met with force they are not bargaining for.
Iraqi Minister Backs Iran on Nuclear Research (click here)
BAGHDAD, Iraq, May 26 — Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari of Iraq today endorsed the right of Iran to pursue the "technological and scientific capabilities" needed to create nuclear power for peaceful purposes, in the first high-level meeting between officials from the new Iraqi government and its eastern neighbor.
But Mr. Zebari's statement, made at a news conference after a meeting with the Iranian foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, appeared deliberately ambiguous and reflected the complex position of Iraq between the United States, which wants Iran to abandon efforts to enrich uranium, and Iran, which says it needs enrichment to create fuel for nuclear reactors.
The meetings in Baghdad were the first opportunity for the new government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki of Iraq to tackle what is sure to be one of the most divisive issues facing his government: the relationship and influence that Iran wields in Iraq, which was a bitter enemy of Iran when Saddam Hussein was in power but whose new government contains many Shiite leaders who want close ties to Tehran....
