The Turkey Problem

Well, it looks like I've got the resolution I'm looking for:

Turkish troops on the Turkish-Iraqi border "killed more than 30 terrorists" preparing an attack, the military said on its Web site Thursday.

1 of 3 The incident, which happened late Tuesday, occurred near a military post in Turkey's Hakkari province. Turkey has been fighting rebels from the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, who have been operating on both sides of the mountainous, rugged region bordering Turkey and Iraq.

"This terrorist group was fired upon heavily by tanks, cannons and other artillery," the Turkish military said in a statement.

It continued that the firepower forced the fighters to flee to Iraq, "and they were followed with bombardment by Turkish forces." Information from local sources and intelligence determined that more than 30 "terrorists" were killed, it added.

The Associated Press reported military sources as saying that 64 rebels have now been killed since Sunday.

They're bringing the noise, baby!

By resolution, I don't mean that this is over. Not by a long shot. What I'm saying is, the decision is made and all that will result from it is self-evident. There will be a low-level incursion by Turkish forces into Kurdish-Iraqi territory for the next several weeks during which many breathless, face-saving protestations will be made by both the Kurdish and American leadership but nothing will actually be done to stop it.

Why? Because it is in our interest that Turkey be appeased on this matter and any further antagonism will only serve to threaten a strategic relationship we desperately need. Turkey's military will go on their adventure and will most likely kill quite a lot of the PKK. We and our allies will be secretly glad they killed the rabble-rousing scum and we'll have all forgotten about it in a month.

Honestly, I wish the Turks well. Nothing makes me happy like suicide bombing cowards getting blasted to chunky salsa.

Turks Fight PKK In Turkish Town

I've been following this as it develops and it is looking less good by the minute:

Turkish troops and Kurdish fighters have exchanged gunfire in the Turkish town of Unuderi close to the Turkey-Iraq border.

Fox News is flooding the airwaves with video from the town. Another story states that Turkey has moved as many as 60,000 soldiers to the Iraqi border in anticipation of a large anti-terrorist operation.

We are in a precarious position here. Turkey has a very legitimate right to pursue these murdering bastards wherever they hide. Even if they didn't it certainly wouldn't be the U.S. that told them so. The problem is that Kurdistan is the most peaceful and successful region in Iraq and the nationalist elements generally support the goals if not the tactics of the PKK. Our best bet is to get the Kurds themselves to hunt down these terrorists. Certainly they can understand the horrible consequences should they not.

We can't protect them from themselves.

PKK Strikes Turkey

In the largest raid in years, the PKK (a violent Kurdish separatist group based in Northern Iraq) killed thirteen Turkish soldiers:

The Turkish cabinet met today amid heightened pressure to hit back at Kurdish separatists in Iraq after 13 soldiers were killed in an ambush yesterday, and two more today.
Three others were wounded today in the separate attacks in south-eastern Turkey, which followed yesterday's death toll, the worst the Turkish military has suffered at the hands of Kurdish forces in years.

The prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said today's cabinet meeting would take up the issue of the long-running campaign against the Kurdistan Workers' party, or PKK, and would be followed by an anti-terrorism meeting, made up of officials in charge of security.

The heartening descriptions of success in Kurdish Iraq tend to overshadow what could in time become a major diplomatic problem for the Turkish government. Every time the Turkish people request action and don't receive it due to American interference, the pressure on an already beleagured government increases. It is clear that it is in our best interest that Turkey stays out of Iraq entirely but we must support that policy by taking steps to dismantle the PKK ourselves. Unfortunately, that action would be very unpopular in Kurdistan and strain the best relations we have in the country.

The balancing act continues.