Kurdish separatist rebels said on Friday they were crossing back into Turkey to
target politicians and police after Ankara said it was preparing to attack them
in the mountains of northern Iraq.
As regional tensions rose, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan cautioned that
relations between Ankara and Washington were in danger over a U.S. congressional
resolution branding as genocide massacres of Armenians by Ottoman Turks.
Washington harbors growing concerns about the possibility of a major Turkish
military incursion to crush Kurdish rebels seeking a homeland in eastern Turkey.
U.S. officials fear such an action could destabilize a relatively peaceful area
of Iraq.
Ankara recalled its ambassador from the United States for consultations after
the U.S. vote, which was strongly condemned in predominantly Muslim but secular
Turkey.
"We don't need anyone's advice on northern Iraq and the operation to be carried
out there," Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told a cheering crowd in Istanbul,
after saying that the United States "came tens of thousands of kilometers and
attacked Iraq without asking anyone's permission."
Referring to relations with the United States and the Armenian resolution,
Erdogan, using a Turkish idiom usually employed to describe relations, said:
"Where the rope is worn thin, may it break off." He did not elaborate.
"All prospects look bad ... and relations with the U.S. have already gone down
the drain," Semih Idiz, a veteran Turkish commentator, said.
"If Turkey sets its mind on something, whether wrong or right it will do it. The
invasion of Cyprus in 1974 is a good example," he said, referring to a Turkish
invasion of northern Cyprus which drew U.S. condemnation and sanctions.
A statement by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) could increase domestic
pressure on Ankara to launch a big offensive that Washington fears could have
ramifications in the region.
The United States relies heavily on Turkish bases to supply its war effort in
Iraq.
Erdogan said his government was ready for any world criticism if Turkey launched
an attack against some 3,000 PKK rebels who use north Iraq as a base to attack
Turkish targets.
Some analysts say an offensive became more likely after the U.S. House of
Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee approved the bill on Wednesday.
Relations with Washington have hitherto been a strong restraining force on
Turkey.
Turkey denies that genocide was committed but said many died in inter-ethnic
fighting.
The PKK statement moved world oil prices back above $83 a barrel, traders said.
The Kirkuk oil fields of northern Iraq feed export pipelines running north into
Turkey.
Analysts and diplomats cast doubt on whether PKK rebels would leave their
hideouts in the Iraqi mountains for the mainly Kurdish southeast of Turkey where
tens of thousands of heavily armed troops and equipment are positioned.
"The guerrillas are not moving to the south (northern Iraq); on the contrary
they are moving to ... places in the north," the PKK said in a statement
published on Firat news agency.
The PKK said its fighters planned to carry out attacks against the ruling AK
Party, the main opposition CHP and the police unless certain conditions were
met. It did not elaborate.
