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August 18, 2006
Turkey, Iran Team up to Attack the "Other" Iraq
As if there weren't enough going on in the Middle East already, the other, other, other war in the region may be heating up.
Who knew?
The Northern, Kurdish-controlled section Iraq, a region so relatively stable that it bills itself to tourists as "The Other Iraq", has been bombed by Turkey and Iran for at least four days without so much as a peep from the American press.
"Scores of Kurds have fled their homes in the northern frontier region after four days of shelling by the Iranian army. Local officials said Turkey had also fired a number of shells into Iraqi territory," writes the the UK's Guardian newspaper today.
Turkey, ostensibly United States's greatest ally in the Middle East, and Iran, ostensibly the United States's greatest enemy, have teamed up to shell the country that the United States is ostensibly trying to build and stabilize. Of more concern is that Turkey and Iran appear poised to cross the Iraqi border to attack the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) , according to reports filed by the Turkish Daily News.
"Citing a statement released on the official Web site of President Jalal Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), the [private Doğan News Agency (DHA)] agency said that Turkish and Iranian artillery units have been firing on the mountainous area since Saturday. The statement said the Turkish and Iranian units have been firing simultaneously, alleging that both Turkish and Iranian troops might cross the Iraqi border -- an apparent reference to a cross-border operation on the PKK camps."
In an unrelated(?) event, Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Hilmi Güler and Iranian Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri-Hamaneh, met in Ankara Tuesday to discuss expanding natural gas exports and other energy contracts. (See The New Anatolian)
Posted by MJuhre at August 18, 2006 11:31 AM