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April 16, 2005

The Turkish military reports the biggest battle in years with PKK guerrillas in southeastern Turkey. The battle took place April 13-14 near the town of Pervari. The PKK lost 21 guerillas and three Turkish troops were killed. The Turkish military is in pursuit of the guerrilla force. The PKK unit may have infiltrated from northern Iraq bases during the past week. Apparently,  the Turkish military had tracked the infiltrators and were able to interdict them with a mobile combat force. The army had also fought a series of skirmishes with a PKK unit during the first week of April. Apparently the firefights occurred near the Turkey-Iraq border. Nine PKK guerrillas died in the firefights. Turkey has been claiming since late 2004 that the PKK planned to launch new attacks into Turkey. Where is the PKK getting financial and military support? Syria and Iran are the most likely suspects. Both Iran and Syria have an interest in keeping Iraq stirred up and in preventing its fledgling democracy from spreading --to places like Syria and Iran. Provoking Turkey via the PKK is one way to keep the pressure on Iraq. -- Austin Bay