Alalam News Network, Iran
Oct 13 2007

PKK Prepares to Attack Turkey

TURKEY, Oct 13–Kurdish separatist rebels have said they were
crossing back into Turkey to target politicians and police after
Ankara said it was preparing to attack them in northern Iraq.

As regional tensions rose, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan cautioned
that relations between Ankara and Washington were in danger over a US
congressional resolution branding as genocide massacres of Armenians
by Ottoman Turks in 1915.

Washington harbors growing concerns about the possibility of a major
Turkish military incursion to crush Kurdish rebels seeking a homeland
in eastern Turkey.

US officials fear such an action could destabilize a relatively
peaceful area of Iraq.

Ankara recalled its ambassador from the United States for
consultations after the US vote, which was strongly condemned in
predominantly Muslim country, Turkey.

"We don’t need anyone’s advice on northern Iraq and the operation to
be carried out there," Erdogan told a cheering crowd in Istanbul,
after saying that the US "came tens of thousands of kilometers and
attacked Iraq without asking anyone’s permission".

Referring to relations with the US and the Armenian resolution,
Erdogan, using a Turkish idiom usually employed to describe
relations, said: "Where the rope is worn thin, may it break off." He
did not elaborate.

A statement by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) could increase
domestic pressure on Ankara to launch a big offensive that Washington
fears could have ramifications in the region.

The US relies heavily on Turkish bases to supply its war effort in
Iraq.

Erdogan said his government was ready for any world criticism if
Turkey launched an attack against some 3,000 PKK rebels who use north
Iraq as a base to attack Turkish targets.

Ankara blames the PKK for the deaths of more than 30,000 people since
the group launched its armed struggle for an ethnic homeland in
southeast Turkey in 1984.

Some analysts say an offensive became more likely after the US House
of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee approved the bill on
Wednesday. Relations with Washington have hitherto been a strong
restraining force on Turkey.

Turkey denies that genocide was committed but said many died in
inter-ethnic fighting. It remains a sensitive issue, but many Turks
are starting to more openly discuss such past taboos.

The PKK statement moved world oil prices back above $83 a barrel,
traders said. The Kirkuk oil fields of northern Iraq feed export
pipelines running north into Turkey.

After a sharp escalation of attacks by Kurdish militants on Turkish
troops, Erdogan’s government, which faces pressure from the public
and the army to act, has decided to seek approval from parliament
next week for a major operation.

Erdogan said he wanted to secure approval now to avoid spending time
later if and when an operation was warranted.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called Erdogan on Thursday to
express her disappointment at the US Armenian bill, which the White
House has tried to stop.

The non-binding Armenian resolution now goes to the floor of the US
House of Representatives, where Democrat leaders say there will be a
vote next month. The resolution was proposed by a politician with
many Armenian-Americans in his district.

Turkey has cautioned that the bill would have negative consequences
for bilateral ties. Potential moves could include blocking US access
to the Incirlik air base, cancelling army contracts, downscaling
bilateral visits, denying air space to US aircraft, and halting joint
exercises.

Iraqi Defence Minister Abdul-Qadir Mohammed Jasim held talks with
Turkey’s ambassador to Baghdad Friday to seek ways to improve
bilateral ties in fighting terrorism.

Erdogan said Turkey respected Iraq’s unity but if it did nothing to
stop the PKK, considered a terrorist organization group by
Washington, Ankara and the EU, then Ankara had to act.

Analysts and diplomats cast doubt on whether PKK rebels would leave
their Iraqi hideouts for the southeast of Turkey where tens of
thousands of heavily armed troops are positioned.

"The guerrillas are not moving to the south (northern Iraq); on the
contrary they are moving to … places in the north," the PKK said in
a statement published on Firat news agency.

The PKK said its fighters planned to carry out attacks against the
ruling AK Party, the main opposition CHP and the police unless
certain conditions were met. It did not elaborate.

Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan adresses his ruling Justice and
Development Party or AKP members in Istanbul.