Word: turkeys
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Although Turkey has sent troops on similar missions in northern Iraq on up to two dozen previous occasions during the 1980s and 90s, this would be the first such incursion since U.S. forces toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003 and took responsibility for security in Iraq...
...Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan noted that the vote - which gives the government the authority to determine the "scope, limits and duration" of any operation - does not necessarily mean an incursion is imminent. Turkey, he said, "will act with common sense and determination when necessary and when the time is ripe...
...Iraqi leaders, fearful of the precedent and potential destabilization created by Iraq's neighbors conducting cross-border military actions on its territory, are hoping that talks between the governments of Turkey and Iraq can forestall military action. Iraqi vice-president Tariq al-Hashemi, who met with Erdogan in Ankara Tuesday, urged that "a political solution must be given priority to resolve this critical issue." And President George W. Bush said Wednesday that the U.S. is "making it clear to Turkey it is not in their interest to send more troops in. There is a better way to deal with...
...Turkish analysts say the political atmosphere in Turkey increases the likelihood of some kind of incursion. Mehmet Ali Kislali, a veteran commentator with the Radikal newspaper who covers the Turkish military, told TIME that the most likely scenario now is Turkish air strikes against strongholds of the PKK in the Qandil mountains near the Iranian border, followed by mopping-up operations by special forces units from a base just inside the Iraq border, to be established after a "large-scale initial land offensive." He added that "as far as is possible, Turkish troops will not venture into heavily populated territory...
...Turkey has repeatedly stressed that its goal is to root out the PKK, and that it wants to avoid clashes with Iraqi forces under the control of the Iraqi Kurdish administration. But U.S. and Iraqi officials fear that Turkish forces, whatever their intention, could clash with Iraqi Kurdish forces, making the conflict difficult to contain. Turkey accuses Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish administration, led by Massoud Barzani, of sheltering the separatist guerrillas, and some see it as a hostile entity. Retired Turkish general Riza Kucukoglu told TIME: "The PKK is the enemy. But there are also the forces of Barzani...