Photo - Burak Kara/AFP/Getty
Who? Turkish military has struck bases of Kurdish separatists.
What? Hundreds of Turkish troops crossed the southern border with Iraq to target the bases of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in response to recent deadly attacks on armed forces. Four separatist guerrillas were reported killed in clashes whereas a Turkish officer also lost his life.
Where? Clashes between the military and Kurdish separatists broke out at Uludere in Sirnak province, near the border with Iraq.
When? PKK guerrillas attacked the Turkish military unit on late Tuesday night, triggering the clashes and subsequent invasion.
Why? The Kurdish rebels are fighting for an independent state in southern Turkey and northern Iraq, areas dominated by the Kurds. The struggle against Ankara started in 1984 and has claimed more than 40,000 since then. Kurds complain of discrimination by the Turkish establishment including the ban on Kurdish language and suppression of culture.
How? PKK fighters have waged deadly guerrilla attacks on Turkish troops mostly from its camps in northern Iraq. Despite an ongoing ceasefire, the rebels targeted a naval base earlier this month. Turkish army responds by launching cross-border incursions into northern Iraq.
Turkey-Israel relationship and PKK are not independent events. MOSSAD arms and trains PKK. It is hardly convincing that the rise in PKK attacks after the fallout between Turkey and Israel is entirely coincidental. 40 Turkish troops martyred in the last 2 months.. Even UN armed and helped PKK by its so called peacekeeping force, namely Cekic Guc, until PM Erbakan abolished it in 1997. Erbakan was overthrown by a bloodless coup 1 year later, obviously haste makes waste.
@LT
Mossad’s hand in raising PKK is not a hidden truth. It was Mossad that handed over Ocalan back in 1999 to Turkey in circumstances that remain unclear to date. Why was Mossad sheltering him in the first place? Why was he turned over to Turkey? What did Israel wanted in return? We won’t come to know any soon…
When Ocalan handed over to Turkey a left-wing leader was in power, Bulent Ecevit. He had gained a minority vote in the elections but after Ocalan was caught in Kenya, Ecevit capitalised on this and increased his vote to 22 %, more than twice as in previous election. It was not coincidental that Ocalan was caught just before the 1999 elections. Ecevit was a subservient politician,moreover he was literally sick, possibly he was the worst option for Turks. He always exploited 1974 Cyprus operation. Although Ecevit was PM in 1974, deputy PM Erbakan initiated the operation when Ecevit was in London,begging big brothers. Everything combined, an impotent politician, Ecevit strangely became PM again. However the rope of a lie is short. Turks did not forget his pose before Bill Clinton: Ecevit standing up, with his hands folded and Clinton sitting, with his legs crossed. We saw the outcomes of this policy in 2002, Ecevit gained only 2% vote just 3 years later and died shortly afterwards. One of the main reasons of Ocalans’ arrest was to make Ecevit PM. Unfortunately death penalty was abolished due to EU policies and we don’t know yet what is gonna happen to Ocalan.
What did Israel want in return? The water from Kurdish rivers and lakes in Northern Kurdistan/South East Turkey. One of the main reasons.
Sir, there is no existing country like kurdistan, let alone northern kurdistan. Israel got Manavgat water for a few years. But now you can forget water for good.