Friday, May 25, 2007
Turkey violates Kurdish airspace
Security, Kurdistan, Turkey
(Voices of Iraq) - A military source from Iraq's Kurdistan region said on Thursday two Turkish warplanes violated Iraqi northern Kurdistan airspace near the borders with Turkey. "Two Turkish warplanes violated today the Kurdistan region airspace for a distance of ten kilometers inside the Iraqi territories," the source, who asked not to be named, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
The warplanes flew over Kurdish villages west of Zakho, the source added. Meanwhile, local residents from villages on the borders with Turkey told VOI "12 artillery shells were fired from the Turkish territories onto the villages of Nazador and Gali Bazagha with no reports of casualties." Duhuk, third province within Kurdistan region, is in the farthest north of Iraq and it has borders with Turkey and Syria.
The warplanes flew over Kurdish villages west of Zakho, the source added. Meanwhile, local residents from villages on the borders with Turkey told VOI "12 artillery shells were fired from the Turkish territories onto the villages of Nazador and Gali Bazagha with no reports of casualties." Duhuk, third province within Kurdistan region, is in the farthest north of Iraq and it has borders with Turkey and Syria.
(Stratfor) - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he would support Turkey's generals if they chose to attack Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq in retaliation for the May 22 suicide bombing in Ankara. The Kurdistan Workers' Party has denied responsibility for the blast. Erdogan also said the United States should do more to crack down on Kurdish separatists in Iraq.
COMMENT: Previously Turkey's military command and politicians have been divided on attacking Kurdistan to pursue the PKK, with the military pushing for an attack and the politicians prefering a more diplomatic approach. The chances of Turkey attacking will rise now that the two sides are (temporarily) united. Also, the politicians had to be seen to be doing something following the Ankara bombing. COMMENT ENDS.
Labels: Ankara, bombings, Kurdistan, PKK, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish warplanes, Zakhu
