Turkish Officials: Troops Enter Iraq

Security Sources Say Soldiers Crossed Border In "Hot Pursuit" Raid; Foreign Minister Denies It

(CBS/AP)  Turkish troops crossed into northern Iraq early Wednesday to chase Kurdish guerrillas who attack Turkey from bases there, Turkish security officials said. One official said the troops had returned to their bases by the end of the day, but Turkey's foreign minister denied its troops had ever entered Iraq.

The senior security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, characterized the raid as a "hot pursuit" raid that was limited in scope. They told The Associated Press it did not constitute the kind of large incursion that Turkish leaders have been discussing in recent weeks.

One official said several thousand troops went less than two miles inside Iraq and were still there in late afternoon. "It is a hot pursuit, not an incursion," one official said.

Another official said by telephone it was "not a major offensive and the number of troops is not in the tens of thousands." He also said the Turkish troops went into a remote, mountainous area.

A third official, based in the border region, said 600 commandos entered Iraq and were backed up by several thousand troops along the border. He said the commandos raided Iraqi territory across from the Turkish border town of Cukurca before dawn after rebels opened fire from Iraqi soil on Turkish patrols.

The official said the commandos returned to their bases in Turkey later in the day. There was no immediate explanation for the conflicting accounts of the officials.

All three officials are based in southeast Turkey, where the military has been battling separatist Kurdish rebels since they took up arms in 1984.

The officials stood by their statements despite denials from Turkish and Iraqi officials.

The White House said there has been "no new activity" in northern Iraq to justify the press reports. Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the White House's National Security Council, said that U.S. officials in the region have confirmed that the activity is a continuation of Turkey's years-long campaign against guerrillas of Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.

"The Turkish government reports no new incursions into northern Iraq," Johndroe said. "U.S. officials on the ground confirm no new activity."

Johndroe said Washington remains "concerned about the PKK and the use of Iraq as a safe haven."

"We have no indications or no reports that the Turks have conducted a cross-border operation into Iraq," said Brig. Gen. Perry Wiggins, deputy director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a military spokesman in Baghdad, said he could not confirm any Turkish troops were in Iraq, but "we are looking into it and obviously we are very concerned."

The last major Turkish incursion into northern Iraq was in 1997, when about 50,000 troops were sent to the region.

The officials who gave the accounts of the raid Wednesday are involved in anti-rebel operations. They did not disclose whether they participated in the planning of Wednesday's operation.

Two of the officials said any confrontation with Iraqi Kurdish groups, who have warned against a Turkish incursion, could trigger a larger cross-border operation. The Turkish military has asked the government in Ankara to approve such an incursion, but the government has not given formal approval.

Several military officials at the Pentagon said they have seen nothing Wednesday that would confirm the reports of Turkish troops crossing the border into Iraq.

[kretos-2009]

Thank God for a free media. They keep us from becoming a dictatorship because they don't goosestep in line like you guys do.

Posted by Rafterman1 at 10:18 PM : Jun 06, 2007

free media ? in the usa ? lol man u messed up in the head most of americans stil didnt hear anything about northwoods operation.

[toolmangler-2009]

Thank God for a free media. They keep us from becoming a dictatorship because they don't goosestep in line like you guys do.

Posted by Rafterman1 at 10:18 PM : Jun 06, 2007

Does that include FOX? I thought better of you than that last crack.

[ajmarine1]

"You are right, we are to PC to fight wars. If I'm going to war, I want my enemies to know, "I'm coming, and hell is coming with me, do you hear me, HELL is coming with me."

I'm sorry - were you saying something?

Posted by mcdazz at 11:24 PM : Jun 06, 2007

Yes, I was saying war is about killing people and breaking things. If are enemies are calling us "paper tigers," I want them to know, I ask no quarter and I give no quarter.

[bareemperor]

Quag, Quag, Quagmire - LameDuck Bu$h

[drummer94]

Bush's dilemma,and turkey manure tag line and this? It's GOTTA be a coincidence!

[secundus2]

Turkey has a sad history of inability to get along with any of its neighbors -- Russians, Armenians, Kurds, Cypriots, Greeks, Iraqis or Syrians. From the viewpoint of nationalist Turks, in these disputes the Turks are never wrong. But they are, for example, the only nation in the whole world to recognize Northern Cyprus, the rump state created by a Turkish invasion. Perhaps they can now invade Iraq and create a Turkmenstan recognized by nobody but themselves.

[culligancan]

I live in Turkey. I see the destruction, violence, ignorance and terrorism that the Kurds propagate. They have killed over 30 thousand Turks through attacks, violence, bombings, and suicide bombings of innocent people. GO TURKEY! I hope you kick those Kurds back into the Stone Age. You have a right to defend yourself!

[bluestardad]

HOW MUCH MONEY IS BUSH SENDING TURKEY?

[neoconrcrazy]

The White House said there has been "no new activity" in northern Iraq.


Bullocks! As the brits would say.....

Two possibilities;

1- bushit has a new secret ally in the "war on terror" in northern iraq whose existence he won't admit to, or;

2- we do not control the borders of iraq anymore


considering the total incompetence of this born-again neocon, the second is most likely.

by allowing iraqs territorial integrity to weaken, we effectively are permitting chaos to strengthen;

if the objective is to guarantee iraqs independence, more troops are needed to protect its borders, or the "surge" policy must change.

[kretos-2009]

kill those who terrorize innocents. kurds terrorized turkish people turkey has right to destroy terrorists. go turkey

Correction:

"...line their own pockets"

[grazinggoat]

mh4cbs1, grazinggoat,
I now where you both are coming from. I have stated my thoughts.
When we had Saddam in jail and everyone was going on about how we shouln't have gone to war...
Posted by AJMarine1

-doesn't really matter what you think where we're coming from, AJ. You can always look at your belly in a mirror and imagine the six-pack, while in reality you have a greasy-fat one.

-Telling facts and formulating wishes about what is going on in Iraq could be a costly dream. Young blood is spilled on the Iraqi sand on, and on everyday. Ours and theirs. Creating frustration and hatred from our part and reciprocally.

-Saddam was not an angel. He was no worse than many others we aupport without mentioning the full scale support he enjoyed while we wanted him used against the Iranian Revolution.

-Our failure resides in what we prefer to remove legally voted-in leaders to the favor of dictators that will not stand the poeple pressure once we leave. Creating continuous chaos and instability in those countries, instead of helping those nations restore their dignity, by removing the dictators who take over by coups... all that in oredr to suck their natural resources and depriving them from that wealth.

-No wonder 80+% of the world population hate our dictata in chief and consider him representing more danger to world peace than OBL.

AJMarine1 wrote:

"Yes, it is time for the Iraq government to stand up and take charge. Four years is long enough to train an army and take control.

In September if things havn't changed, I will be asking to bring home the troops also."

Agreed. Until the Iraqi Government stands up and begins to be responsible for it's own direction, we will always be there - and we will continue to have our soldiers killed and slaughtered for for an Iraqi Government that wants to sit back, take our money and line their own products.

Unfortunately, there are plenty of neo-cons who want us to remain there forever (or at least until the oil has run dry).

They don't care how many of our sons and daughters die - they only care about their greed.

This is a war based on greed and kept going because of greed.

The only ones who aren't greedy are our troops - unfortunately, their lives are being sacrificed while others enrich their lives with tax payer dollars.

AJMarine1 wrote:

"You are right, we are to PC to fight wars. If I'm going to war, I want my enemies to know, "I'm coming, and hell is coming with me, do you here me, HELL is coming with me."

I'm sorry - were you saying something?

[ajmarine1]

mh4cbs1,

Saddam was "our" SOB, I know that, all the more reason for us to be the ones to take him out.

Yes, it is time for the Iraq government to stand up and take charge. Four years is long enough to train an army and take control.

In September if things havn't changed, I will be asking to bring home the troops also.

mh4cbs1, grazinggoatit's been interesting, but I gotta go. Live Long and Prosper.

[radiob-2009]

BTW, I'm still a crack shot, Now where's that joker, muslim2k8. :)
Posted by ToolMangler


Most of them are in hiding, snakes slither when confronted when confronted by crocodiles.

[mh4cbs1]

AJ MArine:

I understand the frustration with Saddam, but why not with all the other dictators the US has supported? Where was the American frustration with Saddam in the 1980s, when he was "killing his own people" and Rummy was over shaking hands with him? Americans are led by the nose by our politicians, their corporate owners and a complicit media.

But of course, the fact that Saddam was a brutal dictator had NOTHING to do with why our troops are dying in Iraq.

One of the "benchmarks" set by Bush and now the Democrats, is that the Iraqi parliament MUST pass the Oil Law. This law will take Iraqi nationalized Oil and turn the vast majority of the reserves over to the control of US corporations in 30 year "contracts".

Our troops are dying in Iraq so these NeoCon SOBs can dominate the Middle East and take the Oil. Period.

[ajmarine1]

"The Middle East was not such a powder keg before we overthrew Mossadeq in 1953. Every time we go into the Middle East to try to "fix" something, whether quietly supporting some dictator or with a grand "shock and awe", it just makes things that much worse."

You will get no arguement from me on this, same *** different year. I was born 1950.

I wish I had never hear of the Middle East.

[ajmarine1]

mh4cbs1, grazinggoat,

I now where you both are coming from. I have stated my thoughts.

When we had Saddam in jail and everyone was going on about how we shouln't have gone to war, I wished they would have let Saddam go, put him back in power, rebuild his country, (it would have been cheaper than what it is costing now) and tell him how sorry we were for bothering him, and we would never do it again, just do what you want. But that didn't happen.

Now, if it looks like we have been driven out, our enemies will have the greatest recruiting tool they could ever ask for.

[mh4cbs1]

AJMarine:

The Middle East was not such a powder keg before we overthrew Mossadeq in 1953. Every time we go into the Middle East to try to "fix" something, whether quietly supporting some dictator or with a grand "shock and awe", it just makes things that much worse.

Doesn't that tell you something?