[NYTr] Kurdish Rebel Commander Warns Turkey of Their Own Vietnam

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

AP via Intl Herald Tribune - Oct 14, 2007
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/10/14/africa/ME-GEN-Iraq-Turkey.php

Kurdish rebel commander warns Turkey against attacks 
on Iraqi Kurdish region

The Associated Press

IN THE QANDIL MOUNTAINS, Iraq: A Kurdish rebel commander has warned
Turkey it would encounter tough resistance and a dragged-out,
Vietnam-style conflict, if it launched a large-scale offensive against
the Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq.

An aggressive incursion by the U.S. ally into Iraq would prompt the
rebels to retaliate with protracted and bloody attacks, Murat
Karayilan, head of the armed wing of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or
PKK, said Saturday.

Speaking to The Associated Press deep in the Qandil mountains
straddling the Iraq-Turkish border, some 150 kilometers (94 miles) from
the northern Iraqi Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah, Karayilan warned an
incursion would "make Turkey experience a Vietnam war."

The PKK has been fighting for autonomy in southeast Turkey since 1984.
The conflict has claimed tens of thousands of lives. Turkey says the
rebels use Iraqi Kurdish territory as a safe haven, but Iraqi and
Kurdish authorities reject the claim.

"Iraq's Kurds will not support the Turkish army," he said. "If Turkey
starts its attack, we will swing the Turkish public opinion by
political, civil and military struggle."

Tensions along the border have increased in recent weeks as Turkish
parliament debates authorizing a military campaign into northern Iraq
to root out rebels who seek a unified, independent nation for Kurds in
the region.

U.S. officials have urged Turkey against sending troops and appealed
for a diplomatic solution with Iraq. The Kurdish self-rule region in
northern Iraq is one of the country's few relatively stable areas and
the Kurds here are also a longtime U.S. ally.

U.S. officials said last week there are about 60,000 Turkish troops
along the country's southern border with Iraq, even though the U.S.
military has not seen activity to suggest an imminent offensive against
Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq.

For months, Turkey has pressed Iraq and the United States to crack down
on the PKK, which Ankara accuses of launching attacks in Turkey from
bases in northern Iraq.

In Turkey, Kurdish rebels killed more than 15 Turkish soldiers in the
past week and are blamed for an ambush that killed 12 people the week
before. The Turkish government responded to the deaths by announcing
tougher measures against the PKK rebels.

Karayilan said the PKK was only defending itself against attacks by the
Turks.

"This was not the first time. It happened many times before and no one
talked about it, so why this time," he said, adding the clashes took
place at least 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the border, within
Turkey, not Iraq.

He said he believes the Turkish attacks are meant to destabilize Iraq,
not remove the rebels.

"Turkey is only making pretexts to enter the Kurdistan region in Iraq,"
he added.