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Turkey Authorizes Iraq Incursion
Turkish soldiers patrol on a road in the southeastern province of Sirnak, along the border with Iraq, on the day that cross-border actions were authorized.
(By Kadir Konuksever -- Associated Press)
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Kohen dismissed calls for restraint by international leaders. "There is a very widespread and strong feeling that the U.S. and the West in general are applying double standards," he said. "They find it justified for themselves, but when it comes to Turkey in a cross-border action that should be considered legitimate self-defense, they want to deny this right to the Turks. It comes to a point where you lose patience."
PKK rebels have escalated attacks inside Turkey in the last two weeks, killing 31 people including 13 military commandos and a busload of civilians. The Turkish public was enraged by the attacks, which were the deadliest in more than a decade, increasing pressure for cross-border action.
"Today the Turkish government is in a most critical and most difficult position," said commentator Birand. "If they do something, they will get burned from the American side. If they don't do anything, they'll get burned by public opinion."
Turkish anger over the U.S. failure to act against the PKK was compounded by a U.S. House committee vote last week to declare as genocide the deaths and disappearances of 1.5 million Armenians during the final days of the Turkish Ottoman Empire nearly a century ago. The White House has urged congressional leaders to put the measure on hold, and it has not gone to a floor vote.
U.S. and Iraqi officials fear a Turkish invasion of Iraq could encourage neighboring countries -- including Iran and Syria, which both have Kurdish minorities supporting autonomy -- to launch attacks against other rebel groups across their borders. Both Iran and Turkey have been firing artillery shells into northern Iraq for the past several weeks.
Turkey, Syria and Iran share concerns that Kurdish groups in the region could make a push for an independent Kurdish state, carving chunks out of each of their countries. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who was visiting Ankara on Wednesday, was the only international leader to openly support Turkey's right to stage a cross-border offensive.
"We understand that such an operation would be aimed toward a certain group which attacks Turkish soldiers," Assad said. "We support decisions that Turkey has on its agenda. We are backing them."
Staff writers Robin Wright and Ann Scott Tyson in Washington and special correspondent Dlovan Brwari in Dahuk, Iraq, contributed to this report.
