"Turkey invades northern Iraq
Feb 28th 2008 | ANKARA AND ERBIL
From The Economist print edition
With scores of fighters on both sides killed, the latest battle between Turkey and its rebel Kurds with havens in Iraq may get out of hand
THE latest incursion by Turkish forces into northern Iraq in an effort to squash the rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which draws its support from Turkey's own Kurds, is the biggest in a decade. It is also one of the most worrying for the region as a whole. The danger is that it may draw in the peshmerga, the Kurdish forces loyal to the government of the Kurds' autonomous region in northern Iraq, and destabilise all of Iraq, just when the insurgency across the country is gradually being contained. The most striking development is that America, whose relations with Turkey, its old ally in NATO, have been chilly, this time appears to have sided more plainly with the Turks. The Americans have even sent high-tech specialists to work alongside the Turks to provide “real-time” intelligence to help Turkish helicopters and artillery to target the PKK in its mountain fastnesses."
More:The Kurds | Turkey invades northern Iraq | Economist.com