Turkish Officials: Troops Enter Iraq

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

(CBS/AP)  One military official said that small numbers of Turkish forces periodically move in and out of Iraq doing counterinsurgency operations, but not thousands at one time. The officials requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.

It's nothing new, said Soner Cagaptay, a senior fellow and director of the Turkish Research Program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

"It's just another episode of this boomerang effect where the PKK launches an attack from northern Iraq into Turkey, kills some Turks, escapes back into northern Iraq and Turkey send its troops after PKK inside northern Iraq," Cagaptay told CBS Radio News.

While the U.S. has about 16,500 troops in northern Iraq, most are not right along the border. Many are part of training teams working with Iraqi border patrols.

Turkey's private NTV television quoted Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul as saying reports of a cross-border operation were false.

"There is no such thing, no entry to another country. If such a thing happens, then we would announce it," Gul said. "We are in a war with terror, we will do whatever is necessary to fight terrorism."

An official at military headquarters in Ankara declined to confirm or deny the report that Turkish troops had entered Iraq.

Earlier Wednesday, reports of an incursion circulated on some media outlets, including Turkey's private Cihan news agency.

Turkish troops have staged so-called "hot pursuits" into northern Iraq in the past, usually after citing reports of attacks against Turkish soldiers in the border region. They have sometimes shelled suspected rebel positions across the border.

Turkish authorities rarely acknowledge such military operations, which were more frequent before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

The Turkish military said rebels across the border in Iraq opened fire Wednesday on a Turkish military outpost in the province of Hakkari, which borders both Iraq and Iran. It said there were no casualties.

Turkey has been building up its military forces on the Iraqi border recently, amid debate among political and military leaders about whether to attack PKK rebels.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said the government has not seen any major operations along the border.

"There has been intermittent shelling, for instance, attacks, certain violations, minor violations on the border which we have documented and reported back to the Turkish side, but honestly we haven't seen any major operations along the border," Zebari told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

"We are aware of this Turkish troops buildup on the border, and the Iraqi government position has been that we will not accept or tolerate any military incursion into Iraqi territories," he said.

Col. Hussein Rashid, a top official with the Iraqi border guards, dismissed the report of a Turkish raid.

"Not even a single Turkish soldier has entered Iraqi territory," he said by telephone from his post near the border with Turkey, although he pointed out that Turkish troops have been operating very close to the border as part of a recent buildup. "I have made contacts with many border posts and none report any incident."

During major incursions in the 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.

[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?