Gen. Yasar Buyukanit, head of Turkey's army, has advocated a military operation into Northern Iraq, in an effort to tackle the "freedom of movement" which the region affords the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). A US State Department spokesman, Sean McCormack, has criticised the statement, claiming that a cross-border operation is "not an appealing option" for Iraqi stability. There are already several large-scale operations being conducted in Turkey against the PKK, although the army is yet to submit this most recent proposal to the Turkish parliament for approval. [AlJazeera [1], April 13]
From Madrid11.net Security Briefs [2], April 13
See our last posts on Iraq [3], Turkey [4] and the struggle in Kurdistan [5].