Saturday, June 02, 2007
PKK leader says his forces will resist Turkish military incursion
Security, Region
(AP) - The top commander of a Kurdish rebel group said his forces would resist any Turkish military incursion aimed at destroying rebel bases in northern Iraq, a news agency reported Saturday. Turkey has been building up its military forces on the Iraqi border in recent weeks, amid debate among political and military leaders about whether to attack rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, who stage raids in southeast Turkey after crossing over from hideouts in Iraq.
Military experts say it is unlikely that a Turkish incursion would lead to a decisive victory over the PKK rebels. "No one should expect us to extend our necks as sheep to be slaughtered in the face of an attack aimed at destroying us," Firat news agency quoted the rebel commander, Murat Karayilan, as saying.
Despite the bold rhetoric, the experienced guerrillas would probably not stand and fight, according to analysts. Instead, they might seek safety in cave complexes or run deeper inside northern Iraq, back to their main bases on Qandil mountain, leaving Turkey with what could turn into an open-ended and costly deployment inside Iraq.
During past major incursions in 1990s, fighting occurred on a front stretching more than 100 miles, mostly in rugged terrain where communications were difficult and the Turkish Kurds were already entrenched in the mountains. If Turkey enters Iraq again, the military might set up a buffer zone as deep as 12 miles to try to stop rebel infiltration, a Turkish government official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Both the United States and the Iraqi government oppose a Turkish cross-border offensive. Officials in Baghdad have promised Turkey that they would prevent the PKK from launching attacks from the Iraqi territory but Turkey is growing increasingly impatient with their inability to reign in the rebels.
Turkish intelligence reports say Iraqi Kurds were building defenses, and imams of mosques in northern Iraq were calling on Iraqi Kurds to resist any Turkish incursion and defend their sovereignty.
Such a confrontation between two U.S. allies could raise tensions between Turkey and the United States, which is struggling to stabilize the country and defeat an insurgency. U.S. commanders have not pursued the Kurdish rebels in remote mountain areas of northern Iraq, one of the few stable areas of the country.
Military experts say it is unlikely that a Turkish incursion would lead to a decisive victory over the PKK rebels. "No one should expect us to extend our necks as sheep to be slaughtered in the face of an attack aimed at destroying us," Firat news agency quoted the rebel commander, Murat Karayilan, as saying.
Despite the bold rhetoric, the experienced guerrillas would probably not stand and fight, according to analysts. Instead, they might seek safety in cave complexes or run deeper inside northern Iraq, back to their main bases on Qandil mountain, leaving Turkey with what could turn into an open-ended and costly deployment inside Iraq.
During past major incursions in 1990s, fighting occurred on a front stretching more than 100 miles, mostly in rugged terrain where communications were difficult and the Turkish Kurds were already entrenched in the mountains. If Turkey enters Iraq again, the military might set up a buffer zone as deep as 12 miles to try to stop rebel infiltration, a Turkish government official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Both the United States and the Iraqi government oppose a Turkish cross-border offensive. Officials in Baghdad have promised Turkey that they would prevent the PKK from launching attacks from the Iraqi territory but Turkey is growing increasingly impatient with their inability to reign in the rebels.
Turkish intelligence reports say Iraqi Kurds were building defenses, and imams of mosques in northern Iraq were calling on Iraqi Kurds to resist any Turkish incursion and defend their sovereignty.
Such a confrontation between two U.S. allies could raise tensions between Turkey and the United States, which is struggling to stabilize the country and defeat an insurgency. U.S. commanders have not pursued the Kurdish rebels in remote mountain areas of northern Iraq, one of the few stable areas of the country.
Labels: Murat Karayilan, PKK, Turkey
