Kurdish War: Invasion? What Invasion?

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September 8, 2007: Turkey continues to complain that U.S. weapons are showing up in the hands of PKK rebels. Some PKK weapons captured by Turkish troops had serial numbers that match pistols and "other weapons" given to Iraqi police forces. The U.S. is not surprised, as it knew theft, blackmarketing, and corruption in Iraq could lead to this. Turkey has also captured Soviet-type weapons that once belonged to the Albanian Army. These weapons "disappeared" when Albania's Communist government collapsed in the early 1990s.

September 5, 2007: Iran claimed that "bandits" in a predominantly Kurdish area in northwestern Iran killed seven Iranian policemen. The fight occurred near the Iran-Iraq border. This is near an area where, for several weeks, Iranian artillery and mortar fire have emptied over twenty remote villages, and sent hundreds of villagers fleeing for sanctuary in larger towns. Iranian troops have crossed the border, to make sure the villages were empty of PKK rebels, and to look for other PKK hideouts. PKK officials, and the Iraqi government in Baghdad have protested this invasion, but Iran denies everything up, and keeps shooting.

September 4, 2007: The Iraqi Kurds insist that, while they want no part of the PKK rebels, the Kurds in northern Iraq would not support Kurdish troops going after the PKK camps in northern Iraq. This would tear apart the successful Kurdish government in northern Iraq. What the Kurdish leadership is implying, although none will come out and say it, is that the only alternative is for the Turks to come into northern Iraq and go after the PKK. Of course, this would mean some of the PKK fighters would escape to Kurdish population centers. There, it would be more politically acceptable for Kurdish police to arrest any PKK members who do something illegal. The Kurdish police have done this with the small number of Kurds who joined Islamic terrorist organizations.

 

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