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Syria backs possible Turkish invasion


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Syria gives backing to possible Turkish incursion into Iraq

ANKARA (AFP) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday said he would support a Turkish incursion into northern Iraq against Kurdish rebels, as the parliament in Ankara met to vote for military action.

We support the decisions the Turkish government has put on its agenda against terrorism and terrorist activities," Assad told reporters after talks with Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul. "We see this as Turkey's legitimate right."

He was speaking shortly before the Turkish parliament was expected to approve a government motion seeking authorisation for cross-border operations into neighbouring northern Iraq to pursue Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebels based there.

Turkey says some 3,500 PKK militants enjoy safe haven in autonomous Kurdish-held northern Iraq, which they use as a springboard for attacks on Turkish territory.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Turkey and much of the international community, has been fighting for Kurdish self-rule in southeast Turkey since 1984. The conflict has claimed more than 37,000 lives.

Ironically, Turkey had threatened Syria with military action in 1998 over Damascus' alleged support for PKK rebels and the safe haven PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan enjoyed in Syria.

Tensions ended the same year when Damascus forced Ocalan out and signed a security cooperation agreement with Ankara, resulting in a significant improvement in bilateral ties.

Ocalan was subsequently captured in Kenya in 1999, tried and jailed for life.

Iraq and the United States both strongly oppose any Turkish military action in northern Iraq, but Turkey says it is left with no other choice in the face of escalating PKK violence and what it sees as a lack of cooperation by Washington and Baghdad.

Assad said US-led forces in Iraq were to blame for the war-torn country becoming a haven for armed rebels.

"The forces occupying Iraq are responsible in the first degree for the terrorist activities there because they are in control of the country," he said.

The Syrian leader also called for groups in Iraq that "support and protect terrorist activities" to be exposed.

Ankara says PKK rebels in northern Iraq are tolerated and even supported by local Kurdish leaders.

Full story, Source: AFP/Yahoo

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  • Bob26003

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  • BrucePrime

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Lord what a disaster. These scumbags in the Whitehouse are not fit for leadership.

What a horrible horrible bunch of draft dodging idealogue nutcases.

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This is to do with Turkey and the Kurds Bob...along with Syria and - more recently - Iran.. NOT America. Stop trying to twist everything into an anti-american slant.

Or perhaps you long for the days of Saddam Hussein, who used chemical weapons against Kurdish civilians ?

Meow Purr.

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...err...but Syria are against Israel doing the same thing against Hezbollah terrorists in autonomous S.Lebanon.

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...err...but Syria are against Israel doing the same thing against Hezbollah terrorists in autonomous S.Lebanon.

That's because Hezb'Allah does the bidding of Syria against the Jews.

The Kurds on the other hand, see Western Syria as part of their homeland, and have been a persistent problem for the Ba'athist regime for decades.

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there was something in todays paper about the turkish goverment/thingy voting to take action against the pkk in iraq. i hope the US stays out of it or it will get very messy.

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Lord what a disaster. These scumbags in the Whitehouse are not fit for leadership.

What a horrible horrible bunch of draft dodging idealogue nutcases.

Once again, either you are ignorant of history, or your hatred has blocked what little common sense you have.

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Lord what a disaster. These scumbags in the Whitehouse are not fit for leadership.

What a horrible horrible bunch of draft dodging idealogue nutcases.

Those scumbags in the Whitehouse have jurisdiction in Syria? Wow!

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Bob26003, listen to the cat. Her mews are wise... ;D

You should be slapped. :)

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Instead of making fun of Bob and point out his ignorance of the issue, we should educate him instead.

Bob, here's a brief history and geography lesson about the Kurds, and their relations with the various nations they live in.

Here you can see a map of Kurdistan...

linked-image

Notice that it extends into northwestern Syria. After the Great War, the Ottomon vilayet of Kurdistan was absorbed into Turkey, and further divided among Persia, Greater Syria, and Iran. Although it is just a small portion of the nation geographically, the Kurds make up 10% of the Syrian population.

According to wikipedia:

Osman Sabri along with some Kurdish politicians, founded the Kurdish Democratic Party of Syria (KDPS) in 1957. The objectives of KDPS were promotion of Kurdish cultural rights, economic progress and democratic change. KDPS was never legally recognized by the Syrian state and remains an underground organization, specially after a crackdown in 1960 during which several of its leaders were arrested, charged with separatism and imprisoned. After the failure of Syrian poltical union with Egypt in 1961, Syria was declared an Arab Republic in the interim constitution. On 23 August 1962, the government conducted a special population census only for the province of Jazira which was predominantly Kurdish. As a result, around 120,000 Kurds in Jazira were arbitrarily categorized as aliens. In fact, the inhabitants had Syrian identity cards and were told to hand them over to the administration for renewal. However those Kurds who submitted their cards received nothing in return. A media campaign was launched against the Kurds with slogans such as Save Arabism in Jazira! and Fight the Kurdish threat!. These policies coincided with the beginning of Barzani's uprising in Iraqi Kurdistan and discovery of oilfields in the Kurdish inhabited areas of Syria. In June 1963, Syria took part in the Iraqi military campaign against the Kurds by providing aircraft, armoured vehicles and a force of 6,000 soldiers. Syrian troops crossed the Iraqi border and moved into Kurdish town of Zakho in pursuit of Barzani's fighters.

In Iran...

Another wave of nationalism engulfed eastern Kurdistan after the fall of the Pahlavi Dynasty in the winter of 1979, and as a result Ayatollah Khomeini, the new religious leader of Iran, declared a jihad (holy war) against separatism in Iranian Kurdistan[27]. The crisis deepened after Kurds were denied seats in the assembly of experts gathering in 1979, which were responsible for writing the new constitution. Ayatollah Khomeini prevented Dr. Ghassemlou, the elected representative of the region to participate in the assembly of experts’ first meeting [28]. Kurds were therefore deprived of their political rights under the new Iranian constitution, since the majority of them belonged to the Sunni branch of Islam. In the spring of 1980, government forces under the command of President Abolhassan Banisadr conquered most of the Kurdish cities through a huge military campaign, sending in mechanized military divisions to Kurdish cities including Mahabad, Sinne, Pawe, and Marivan [29].

Kurdish political organizations were enthusiastic supporters of the revolution against the Shah, which brought Ayatollah Khomeini to power in 1979. The Shah had shown himself to be no friend of Kurdish aspirations for greater autonomy and a loosening of Tehran's control over their affairs. From the early days of the revolution, relations between the central government and Kurdish organizations have been fraught with difficulties. The Kurds, with their different language and traditions and their cross-border alliances, were seen as vulnerable to exploitation by foreign powers who wished to destabilize the young republic. Sunni Kurds, unlike the overwhelming majority of their countrymen, abstained from voting to endorse the creation of an Islamic republic in April 1979. That referendum institutionalized Shia primacy and made no provision for regional autonomy. As early as 1979 armed conflict broke out between armed Kurdish factions and the Iranian government's security forces. The Kurdish forces included primarily the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI) and the leftist Komala (Revolutionary Organization of Kurdish Toilers)[30]. In a speech, Ayatollah Khomeini called the concept of ethnic minority contrary to Islamic doctrines. He also accused those who do not wish Muslim countries to be united in creating the issue of nationalism among minorities. His views were shared by many in the clerical leadership [31].

The new leadership had little patience for Kurdish demands and opted for crushing unrest through military means. On August 17th 1979, Ayatollah Khomeini declared holy war against the Kurds. Entire villages and towns were destroyed to force Kurds into submission [32]. Ayatollah Khalkhali, sentenced thousands of men to execution after summary trials without regard for the rights of the accused. The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps fought to reestablish government control in the Kurdish regions. As a result more than 10,000 Kurds were killed [33].

As you can see, the tension between Kurds, Persian, and Arabs has extended back to the 1920s, at least in the modern age. It is nothing new. Before you can say Bush caused the current instability that allows the Turks to consider military action, understand this is nothing new, even in the past two decades.

In Turkey...

In 1983, a number of provinces were placed under martial law in response to the activities of the militant separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).[4] An extremely violent guerrilla war took place through the rest of the 1980s and into the 1990s, in which much of the countryside was evacuated, thousands of Kurdish-populated villages were destroyed and numerous extra judicial summary executions were carried out by both sides.[6] More than 37,000 people were killed in the violence and hundreds of thousands more were forced to leave their homes.[10] The situation in the region has since eased following the capture of the PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan in 1999 and the introduction of a greater degree of official tolerance for Kurdish cultural activities, encouraged by the European Union.[9] However, some political violence is still ongoing and the Turkish-Iraqi border region remains tense.[11]

Even during the reign of Saddam Hussein, Turkey would make incursions across the border to attack Kurdish rebels.

Edited by BrucePrime
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You should be slapped. :)

Why? I am a good cat. :cry:

Note to myself: Take photos of the two evil super-villan kittens in home.

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Iraq = Worst foreign policy blunder in American history.

If some type of heavy conflict erupts over Kurdistan, we are responsible by International law.

As the aggressor we are responsible for all the catastrophic results.............

Not a hard concept.

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Iraq = Worst foreign policy blunder in American history.

If some type of heavy conflict erupts over Kurdistan, we are responsible by International law.

As the aggressor we are responsible for all the catastrophic results.............

Not a hard concept.

You fail to understand, Bob...this conflict has been ongoing for almost 100 years. This would happen with or without the United States invading Iraq.

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Bob.. did you read Bruceprimes last post ? The conflict with the Kurds has been going on for a century.

Meow Purr.

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You fail to understand, Bob...this conflict has been ongoing for almost 100 years. This would happen with or without the United States invading Iraq.

That is pure speculation.

AND........ If a hardcore armed conflict breaks out that otherwise wouldn't have...... Well, we are responsible.

There are other ways to solve things than violence.

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Bob.. did you read Bruceprimes last post ? The conflict with the Kurds has been going on for a century.

Meow Purr.

There was no way he read it. He is just continuing his knee-jerk anti-Bush reaction.

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Obviously invading Iraq has enflamed an already tense situation..........

If you can't see that, you are hopeless.

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That is pure speculation.

AND........ If a hardcore armed conflict breaks out that otherwise wouldn't have...... Well, we are responsible.

There are other ways to solve things than violence.

Bob - are you stating that the history of Kurdistan over the last 100 years is speculation ? ? Are we having some sort of language problem here ?

Meow Purr.

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That is pure speculation.

AND........ If a hardcore armed conflict breaks out that otherwise wouldn't have...... Well, we are responsible.

100 years of conflict is speculation? All the facts I posted are pure speculation?

If you mean the effect of the Iraqi War on the Kurdish-Turk conflict, then you are admitting that your ignorant reaction "It's all Bush's fault!" is pure speculation as well. Except my assertion is not speculation, it is supported by the facts.

There are other ways to solve things than violence.

That's real deep. Wow. I feel so warm and fuzzy.

Then solve the problem, Bob.

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When the slaughter starts, I am sure you people will tell yourselves anything you can so you can sleep at night.

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When the slaughter starts, I am sure you people will tell yourselves anything you can so you can sleep at night.

What in the hell are you even talking about, Bob?

This just proves he has no facts, has not done a tiny bit of research, and is just reacting to the situation without thinking. I have facts, you have rhetoric.

The difference between us and you, Bob, is that we don't want to see Iraqi Kurdistan invaded. However, you need it, you lust for it, so when civilians start dying, and you can have the same reaction you are having now, "See! See! It's Bush's fault!"

Edited by BrucePrime
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What in the hell are you even talking about, Bob?

This just proves he has no facts, has not done a tiny bit of research, and is just reacting to the situation without thinking. I have facts, you have rhetoric.

The difference between us and you, Bob, is that we don't want to see Iraqi Kurdistan invaded. However, you need it, you lust for it, so when civilians start dying, and you can have the same reaction you are having now, "See! See! It's Bush's fault!"

Well perhaps you should have thought about that before you supported turning Iraq into a warzone in the powder keg that is that region.

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<.<

what are you talking about?

Turkey has made incursion into iraq numerous times, even during Saddam's reign.

The PKK were going to be there regardless of whether or not the war in iraq happened

you are talking sh**

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A turkish incursion into Iraq and the mass slaughter that may result is an entirely predictable outcome.

What do you expect when you destroy the Gov and infrastructure of a nation.............

The problem is that you have a bunch of radicals who know nothing about war or it's effects making the decisions based on some grand scheme of American global dominance after the cold war....... (Refer to Neocon ideology and PNAC)

However, these fringe lunatic ideas reap nothing but catastraphe ....

Edited by Bob26003
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