Turkish Incursion Into Iraq a Minefield Larger Than It Looks

ANKARA - Tension between Turkey, Iraq and the United States went up another degree as Turkish artillery continued Wednesday and Thursday to shell civilian targets and Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) positions across its border, while army helicopters launched several raids along the border separating Turkey from northern Iraq.

The attacks, reported by state-controlled Anadolu and private Dogan Turkish news agencies, and confirmed by western wires, seem to be the prelude to an incursion into Iraqi Kurdistan, a probable course of action by Ankara following the approval the government received last week from the Turkish parliament.

Turkey's intent is to disrupt PKK's activities against Turkish military bases and patrols in the region, which, according to Ankara, are organized with the support of Iraqi Kurds, and the tolerance of Baghdad. The guerrilla conflict has so far cost 30,000 lives in both camps.

It is estimated that 3,000 Turkish Kurds are engaged in PKK operations in the zone. PKK, formed in 1984, was initially a movement aiming to form an independent state, but has in recent years limited its claims to becoming an autonomous region of Turkey. More....