Turkey not to send combat troops to Afghanistan

Turkey has no intention of sending combat troops to Afghanistan, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said on Wednesday. U.S. seeks more troops for Afghanistan from its NATO allies at the summit in Bucharest.

Turkey has no intention of sending more combat troops to Afghanistan, Gul said before he departed for NATO Summit in Bucharest on Wednesday. Gul will meet France President Nicolas Sarkozy and Britain Prime Minister Gordon Brown in the sidelines of the summit. Gul will be accompanied by Foreign Minister Ali Babacan and Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul.

Turkey joined the countries who distanced themself from U.S. President George W. Bush's call to send more troops to Afghanistan. French prime minister said on the eve of the meeting that Paris might send just several hundred soldiers and an aide to Sarkozy said France would make any new deployment dependent on an increase in foreign aid for Afghanistan.

Diplomats had hoped Sarkozy would tell a NATO summit starting in Bucharest later on Wednesday that France would make a major new contribution in Afghanistan as part of a revamp of the NATO peacekeeping force in the east and south.

Bush said the alliance could not afford to lose its battle against Taliban insurgents and al-Qaeda militants and recalled that France had indicated it could boost its 1,500-strong force. "As President Sarkozy put it in London last week, we cannot afford to lose Afghanistan. Whatever the cost, however difficult, we cannot afford it, we must win. I agree completely," he said in a speech before the summit.

Noting that France and Romania had signalled they could send more troops, he pursued a U.S.-led campaign for European NATO nations to increase their share of the fighting. "We ask other NATO nations to step forward with additional forces as well," he said.

SUMMIT MESSAGE

NATO allies want the Bucharest summit to send the message that its 47,000-strong force will stay in Afghanistan for as long as necessary to fight the insurgency. "Our alliance must maintain its resolve and finish the fight... If we do not defeat the terrorists in Afghanistan, we will face them on our soil," Bush said.

French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said on Tuesday Paris was looking to send several hundred more troops to Afghanistan. That was short of the 1,000 extra soldiers some NATO allies had expected and it was not clear whether it would be enough to cover a Canadian demand for reinforcements in the south.

Ottawa has said it could pull its 2,500 troops out of the fight next year if the reinforcements were not forthcoming. "The important thing is the decision in principle," a Sarkozy adviser told a briefing in Paris on Tuesday, adding that the precise size and location of any French deployment would have to be negotiated at the military level.

The adviser said Sarkozy had set out conditions for extra French troops in a letter to NATO allies. "He calls for a coordinated strategy whose goal will be a stable Afghanistan, reconciled with itself and free of terrorism and drug trafficking," he said.

US Knew Of Turkey's Plan To Hit PKK, Didn't Object

(From THE WALL STREET JOURNAL)
By Yochi J. Dreazen WASHINGTON — The Turkish government briefed the Bush administration about its plans to strike northern Iraq well in advance of launching the controversial operation and the U.S. raised no objections, according to American and Turkish officials.

Turkish representatives told U.S. diplomatic and military officials that Ankara was planning to send ground troops into Iraq to strike targets belonging to the Kurdish Workers Party, or PKK, an anti-Turkish guerilla group, according to officials from both countries. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan personally told President Bush about the plans, the officials said. The White House confirmed the conversation occurred.

In the conversations, U.S. officials urged Turkey to limit the scope and duration of the assault but raised no real objections, according to officials from both countries.

"In terms of the ground operation, we did inform well in advance the U.S. diplomatic and military authorities," Turkish ambassador Nabi Sensoy said in an interview. "They understood why Turkey was doing this."

A senior U.S. administration official confirmed Turkey discussed the planned invasion with the U.S. and said the U.S. didn't give the Turks a firm red light. "We already have a lot of cooperation with them in the area, providing intelligence," he said.

The administration has offered virtually no public criticism of the Turkish strikes, which mark the first large-scale Turkish push into Iraqi territory since the start of the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. State Department spokesman Tom Casey said yesterday the PKK was a threat to the U.S., as well as to Turkey and Iraq. "The PKK is a common enemy," he told reporters.

The fighting pits two close U.S. allies against each other. Turkey has political, economic and military ties to the U.S., and the Bush administration often cites Turkey as proof that Islam and democracy are compatible. The Iraqi Kurds, meanwhile, have a longstanding relationship with the U.S. and have supported the administration's political aims in Iraq since 2003.

Behind the scenes, though, the Bush administration has grown increasingly frustrated with the Iraqi Kurdish leadership in recent weeks. Many Pentagon and State Department officials are upset with the Kurds for failing to take strong measures against the PKK despite repeated promises to crack down on the group.

"There's a bit of a sense that the Kurds have kind of brought this on themselves," said a senior U.S. military commander, who added that Turkey had exercised "considerable restraint" in the face of a wave of deadly PKK attacks on Turkish targets.

Kurdish officials have begun to publicly accuse the U.S. of effectively collaborating with the Turkish assaults.

Mr. Sensoy said Ankara wasn't feeling any real U.S. pressure to wind down the effort. "I don't think there is pressure, and I do not expect that there will be any," he said. "Turkey will stop the operation when the predetermined military targets are achieved."

Mr. Sensoy said at least 17 Turkish soldiers had been killed in the fighting, and he estimated Turkish forces had killed 153 guerillas. PKK officials said their casualties were far lower and said the guerillas killed more than 80 Turkish soldiers. The PKK also claimed to have shot down a Turkish helicopter, although Turkey said the cause of the crash was being investigated.

In a statement posted on its Web site, the Turkish military said its forces fired dozens of artillery shells at PKK targets and fought at close quarters with PKK guerillas in four parts of northern Iraq. The military said Turkish forces had found and destroyed PKK shelters, logistics centers, and ammunition and weapons caches. PKK fighters were booby-trapping corpses and laying mines on many mountainous roads, the military said.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, Lt. Gen. Carter Ham, the director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that the PKK issue was "not solely a military problem," echoing similar comments over the weekend from Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

Turkish jets bomb rebel territory in northern Iraq

SULAIMANIYAH: Turkish warplanes on Monday bombarded three abandoned settlements in an area of northern Iraq known as a refuge for rebel Kurds, rebel and Iraqi military officials said.

“Turkish planes bombed the unihabited hamlets of Khorakouk, Khnira and Loulan in the Qandil Mountains near the Turkish border between 3.00 and 6.00 am today,” said Ahmed Dinis, a spokesman for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). No-one was hurt, he added. Dinis would not say whether any guerrillas were in the area when the jets struck.

The Qandil Mountains lie on the three-way border between Iraq, Iran and Turkey and are known as a stronghold of the PKK, which is fighting for Kurdish self-rule in southeastern Turkey. An Iraqi military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the report by Dinis to reporters in the Iraqi Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah. Turkey has carried out several air strikes in northern Iraq since December, some using intelligence supplied by the US forces in the country, and has vowed to defeat what it says are 4,000 rebels using Qandil as a rearbase.

US-Iraq pact: The Iraqi government will begin talks with US officials later in February on a pact that would lay the basis for long-term strategic ties between Washington and Baghdad, an Iraqi official said on Monday.

Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, President Jalal Talabani, Iraq’s two vice presidents and the leaders of major political blocs had met on Sunday to discuss the pact. Dabbagh said the talks with US officials would begin in the third week of February but did not give a date. “This agreement will bring economic, security, political, diplomatic benefits to Iraq and set up a sympathetic relationship with the American people,” he said. agencies

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008\02\05\story_5-2-2008_pg4_5

Turkey rejects US bank request on Iran

A Turkish official has refused a US request to scrutinize and then suspend the activities of the Turkey-based Iran's Bank Mellat.
“What binds Turkey are the resolutions of the UN and not US presidential decrees or Congressional decisions,” a Turkish diplomat told the Turkish Daily News.

US officials have told bankers around the world that Iran is funding terrorists and seeking nuclear technology. Banks such as UBS AG and Deutsche Bank AG have responded by ending - or severely reducing - their business with Iran.

However, in Ankara US requests have not been responded to in a similar way, according to officials.

Stating that foreign banks operate according to the regulations set by the current Banking Law and are inspected periodically, the official underlined that the conditions of suspending one bank's operations are clear.

“Obviously we cannot move upon a third party's requests,” he said.

Although some banks in Europe and Japan have bowed to US pressure, a host of analysts and diplomats believe that the move has proved futile.

They opine that the Bush administration's controversial policy of slapping sanctions on Iranian banks is facing a critical challenge, as financial institutions in Russia, China, and much of the Middle East have declined to cut ties with Iranian banks.

AO/JG/PA

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=41099&sectionid=351020101

Turkish infantry enter Iraq territory

MOSUL, Iraq, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) --Turkish troops entered the Iraqi territories in the northern Kurdish autonomous region early on Tuesday, targeting Kurdish rebels, spokesman from the Kurdish border guards said.

"About 100 Turkish troops carrying light weapons entered the mountainous Bradrak area near the border," the spokesman told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

There were no reports of clashes in the area, he said, adding that he expected that the Turkish troops received intelligence reports about the presence of the separatist Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) fighters.

Overnight, the Turkish artillery shelled two villages near the border in Duhuk Province bordering Turkey, causing material casualties, the source added.

On Sunday, the Turkish warplanes carried out air strikes at some villages near the border in the Qandil mountains, killing a woman and wounding six people, according to a Kurdish security source.

A statement from the Turkish General Staff posted on its Web site said the Turkish warplanes bombed positions of PKK rebels in northern Iraq.

The Turkish military has launched several cross-border attacks recently in a bid to fight separatist PKK rebels, who use northern Iraq as a launch pad for attacks against Turkey.

Security operations are underway in southeastern and eastern Turkey as 100,000 Turkish troops have massed along Turkish-Iraqi borders in preparations for a possible cross-border operation to crush about 3,000-strong PKK rebels.

The PKK, listed by the United States and Turkey as a terrorist group, took up arms against Turkey in 1984 with the aim of creating an ethnic homeland in the southeast. More than 30,000 people have been killed in the over-two-decade conflict.

Inevitable: Turkey-Iran-Syria-Russia alliance

The Middle East has acquired immense strategic value as one of the determining fulcrums in the global balance of power due to its being the world's largest known storehouse of low-cost energy supplies. The region's geopolitical importance, the kaleidoscopic nature of politics among its states, the presence of volatile social and political forces within them and the interference of world superpowers all insure that the region will remain a potentially explosive source of tension for years.

Emboldened by its military strength after World War II, Moscow prepared to carve up its southern neighbors. It demanded territorial concessions and control of the Bosporus from Turkey and refused to withdraw from northern Iran, which it had occupied in 1941. Turkey and Iran rebuffed Soviet coercive diplomacy with the support of the United States and became key allies in the American effort to contain Soviet expansion.

The Central Treaty Organization (CENTO) was a defense alliance between Turkey, Iran, Pakistan and Great Britain. Originally named the Baghdad Pact, the name was changed when the Iraqi revolution led Iraq to withdraw in 1959. The United States had observer status in the alliance but was not a party to the treaty. The fall of the shah removed the American shield from Iran, sounded the death knell for the anti-Soviet CENTO alliance and sailed Iran towards new horizons.

Now the same faith is on the road for Turkey. The measureless and injudicious backup given by the occupying power in Iraq — the US government — to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and to Massoud Barzani, the former tribal leader of the Iraqi Kurds and now the so-called leader of the Iraqi Kurdish region.

Turkey, taking into consideration the ongoing assaults by the PKK terrorists in the southeastern regions and the measureless backup given by US government to Iraqi Kurds, has drawn up a new strategic alliance policy that weakens ties with the US and strengthens relations with Iran and Syria, their millennium-long neighbors.

The US has failed to keep its promise to Turkey to confront the PKK. Turkey now feels that it has no choice but to attack the PKK's sanctuaries in northern Iraq together with Iran.

Iran is also suffering from similar assaults originating from the same terrorist group located in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq under the name of Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan (PJAK).

The US and Iran are increasingly at odds over a range of issues, and Turkey has stood nearby the US as an old and devoted ally for the past 57 years.

Surprisingly, US strategists seem to be pushing Turkey and Iran together to fight against violent Kurdish attacks or into an alliance to fight together against the common enemy in the region at the cost of losing Turkey as a faithful ally. The sympathy of Turkish people towards the US had fallen sharply over the past couple of years, and it will take decades for US to recover it.

It seems it is now mandatory for Turkey and Iran to form a common cooperative ground in regard to common problems and interests. New and stronger cooperative action in the economic field by Turkey and Iran will play a major role in the eradication of the political distrust and concerns between the two countries. The parties have announced an upcoming doubling of the volume of their trade.

Both countries have already agreed on the elimination of the main source of discord: support for each other's separatist and oppositional organizations. Iran has committed to adding the PKK to its list of "terrorist organizations." Turkey has done the same concerning the Iranian group "Mojahedin Halk."

The second stage is the escalation of high-level cooperation between Turkey, Iran and Syria and this is moving forward, as well.

Aversion to American global policy, in particular to the actions of the US in Iraq, the common allies of Syria and Iran, and also shared economic interests, will lead to the merging of the political strategies of Russia and Turkey. Countries that were previously historical opponents will turn into partners in the creation of a new Eurasian coalition.

The final effect of the region's aversion to American policies will be the formation of the "union of four:" Russia, Turkey, Iran and Syria. Of course, this rapprochement between Ankara, Moscow, Damascus and Teheran will definitely affect Washington's position in the Middle East.

http://www.todayszaman.com
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During his visit in Syria Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, he is praised as a hero not only by Syrians but also by a Turkish public that admired his willingness to resist American pressure.
It's not just the cooperation in fighting terrorists that allies Iran and Turkey.

Yes, Turkey has recognized the anti-Iranian MEK as terrorists, while Iran has recognized the PKK as terrorists. But the cooperation goes further than that.

For example, Iran has a pipe that feeds gas into Turkey. In the future, Turkey and Iran have plans to extend that pipe into Europe.

Both countries are also part of the ECO (The Economic Cooperation Organization) which by the way, does include Pakistan.

Both countrys' police cooperate in stopping drug-trafficers, and both countrys' tourism departments cooperate in promoting tourism between the two states. There are many other examples as well. Both countries have set up joint ventures in free-trade zones with each other trading textiles, decorative stone, chemicals and petrochemicals, foods, etc.

They have removed many tarrif barriers, and have established various banking relations.

Turkey-Russia relations are also improving very rapidly. Trade between the two states was just a few hundred million $ in 2004, and is projected to reach about 25 billion $ by the end of 2007.

Russia, similar to Iran, is also supplyin gas to Turkey. Russian companies are also distributing some of that gas inside of Turkey.
Turkey is currently also one of the most popular sites for Russian tourists.

Assad supports Turkey''s cross-border pursuit of PKK rebels in Northern Iraq

Visiting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Wednesday that his country supports Turkish decisions to fight terrorism.
Assad has been given official reception at the Turkish Presidential palace following which he held in-camera talks with President Abdullah Gul.
The two presidents held a joint conference, during which Assad voiced support to Turkey's cross-border operation to fight against outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party )PKK) rebels in northern Iraq.
He said it was Turkey's right to take the measures it deemed appropriate in case political ways have failed.
Assad is expected to visit Istabul on Thursday before conclusion of his three-day visit to Ankara.

http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=1848385&Language=en
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It is quite well-known that Kurds has some relationship with Mossad as a number of Israelis are sighted around PKK bases. Turkish incursion on Northern Iraq to attack PKK is certainly is a good thing for Syria.

The enemy of my enemy's allies is my friend.

Turkey Authorizes Military Operation in Iraq

ANKARA, Turkey, Oct. 17 — The Turkish parliament Wednesday authorized cross-border military operations into northern Iraq to combat Kurdish separatist rebels as world leaders implored Turkey to delay any action.

In the hours before the parliament voted by a gaping margin of 507 to 19 to give Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan permission to launch strikes any time over the next year, Iraqi and NATO officials made a flurry of cautionary, last-minute telephone calls to the country's top leaders.

The vote came just moments after President Bush in a White House press conference urged Turkey to continue talking to Iraq officials about the situation and to not move troops against the rebels.

"We are making it very clear to Turkey that we don't think it is in their interests to send troops into Iraq," Bush told reporters. " . . . There's a better way to deal with the issue than having the Turks send massive troops into the country."

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki asked Erdogan for more time to take action against rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) who have been allowed to operate freely in northern Iraq since the U.S. invasion. He said he has given "strict instructions" to the regional Iraqi Kurdish administration to crack down on PKK operations and said Iraqi forces could join the Turkish army in military operations "if necessary," according to the Anatolian News Agency.

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer called Turkish President Abdullah Gul and urged Turkey to "exercise the greatest possible restraint, particularly in this time of great tension," NATO spokesman James Appathurai said at a news briefing in Brussels.

But Turkish parliamentary leaders — some delivering impassioned speeches, others reading dryly from prepared texts during Wednesday's two-and-a-half-hour debate — criticized Iraq and the United States for refusing to take action against the rebel organization, despite years of pleas from Turkish authorities.

They accused the northern Iraq Kurdish government of giving the PKK leaders and fighters free rein to run their headquarters and training camps and plot attacks on Turkey across the border. They also blamed the United States, saying it failed to live up to promises made in 2003 that they would help counter the PKK threat from inside Iraq.

"They are furious and they wish to see somebody get a hold of the PKK," said Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell. "Ideally it would be the Kurdish government, and that's who we are pressuring to deal with the terrorists in their midst. There is enormous frustration among the Turks."

U.S. and Iraqi officials fear a Turkish invasion into Iraq could lead to even more chaos in Iraq and could open the door to other neighboring countries, including Iran and Syria, to launch attacks against other Kurdish groups along their borders with Iraq. Both Iran and Turkey have been firing artillery shells into northern Iraq for the past several weeks.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who met with Turkish leaders during a state visit here Wednesday, said Turkey has a legitimate right to launch a cross-border offensive.

"We understand that such an operation would be aimed toward a certain group which attacks Turkish soldiers," Assad told reporters. "We support decisions that Turkey has on its agenda, we are backing them. We accept this as Turkey's legitimate right. As Syria, we are supporting all decisions by Turkey and we are standing behind them."

Turkey, Syria and Iran all have troubled relationships with their Kurdish minority populations and separatist groups that have called for an independent Kurdistan uniting Kurdish territories along the border regions.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/17/AR2007101700967.html
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Turkey planned incursion in Northern Iraq will open an example for Iran in Southern Iraq and for Ba'athist Syria in Central Sunni heartland. Politically, Iraq would be tore apart by its neighbours influence if US pulls out its troops.

The possibility of Turkish ground incursion on northern Iraq

While the 'Sunni triangle' is traditionally viewed as the heart of armed conflict in Middle-East, the Iraqi northern border is not quiet, as it often believed.

Last week 15 Turkish soldiers are killed by Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters. This incident may improve the possibility for success of parliamentary vote seeking Turkish MPs' approval for a ground incursion against Kurdish fighters based in the region. Last Monday, A bill which would allow an operation into Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq any time in the next year is reportedly to be submitted to parliament after a cabinet meeting.

Al-Jazeera reporters said that Turkey has begun a continuous artillery shelling across Iraqi border on a village.

Ankara has long complained that Washington has not done enough on its own or through the Iraqi government to crack down on the PKK. This development has improved the possibility on the 'Second Invasion of Iraq'.

The quiet, cool and hilly northern Iraq territory may one day become another fierce hotbed of insurgency, if US is unable to restrain its Kurds allies.