that is an awful lot of denials in one story, nope, nuthin happenin here folks! meanwhile, let’s check out what else is happening..
U.S. scrambles to keep Kirkuk from igniting

Tensions already are so high in Kirkuk that Browder says just one bomb with mass casualties might be enough to unleash a massive bloodletting. “Everybody’s right on the envelope,” he says.
Such a scenario would significantly worsen problems throughout Iraq and beyond. The Kurds, the largest ethnic group in Kirkuk, could clash with already-warring Sunni and Shiite Arabs, essentially turning Iraq’s sectarian conflict into a three-way affair. Neighboring Turkey could invade to protect its ethnic kin. Turmoil in a region that accounts for about 40% of Iraq’s oil production could damage the economy for years to come.
….
The Turkmen, a Turkish-speaking minority with ethnic ties to Turkey, consider Kirkuk to be their ancestral capital and cultural center.
“We are still not living in harmony in Kirkuk,” says Tahsin Kahya, a Turkmen council member. “We’ve been marginalized here.”
Daniel Serwer, an Iraq expert at the U.S. Institute of Peace, says, “The issue is clear: The Kurds want Kirkuk, and not just for the oil. They say it’s their capital. Unfortunately, the (Turkmen) feel the same way.”

Posted by: annie | Jun 6 2007 18:43 utc | 3

From the Turkish POV, it might have helped them rattling the teacups of the world’s international leaders at the G8.

Posted by: johnf | Jun 6 2007 20:54 utc | 5

this area is the big ‘success story’. the last thing they will ever admit is what a problem it is.
hold on to your hats

Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani warned that if the Turks meddled in Kirkuk, ‘then we will take action for the 30 million Kurds in Turkey.’ The head of the Turkish general staff, Gen. Yasar Buyukanit, responded that ‘from an exclusively military point of view,” he favored an invasion of Iraq to clean out PKK havens. If the Turks do attack, counters one Kurdish official, ‘their own border will not be respected. They will not be the only ones to choose the battlefield.'”

Posted by: annie | Jun 6 2007 21:35 utc | 7

Now, now. I’m sure there’s a rational explanation for this.
Just as the Star Wars missile shield America is installing in Poland is actually there to protect Britain from Iranian missiles, this alleged Turkish rescue mission was actually undertaken to assist the Kurds with any damage from Cyclone GONU.
There. That’s the ticket.
Everything will be fine.
It can’t happen here.
Home by Christmas.
Nobody dies. Nobody dies.

Posted by: Antifa | Jun 7 2007 1:10 utc | 9

Funny, seems the entire phreakin blog world and MSM were fooled.
It was ten choppers and 150 troops, who hit a PKK village, touched down, prowled around and left without firing a shot.
This is the kinda shit that’s gonna launch a nuke war sooner or later, unless BoyKing launches on Iran without our blessings.

Posted by: larue | Jun 7 2007 3:56 utc | 11

Very interesting.
Both the State Dept and the Kurdistan Regional Govt rep in Washington are saying this is untrue, that Turkish forces did not enter Iraq. However, there seems to be a troop buildup on the border and the Kurds are warning Turkey not to do anything stupid. TPM has a bit more at the link above.

Posted by: Bea | Jun 7 2007 15:48 utc | 13

Here are some opinions on this from the Turkish Press:
Soil Sown by the US

…we could say that our alliance [witih the U.S.] –considered a vital one for 50 years – is moving to a very different place sown with seeds of discord. Former high-ranking officers have also suggested that Turkey quit NATO. This suggestion shouldn’t be seen as just inane. Considering how far anti-Americanism has spread in Turkish society, many see nothing wrong with this stance.
It’s also not hard to guess that similar views are shared by many Turkish officers. I’ve written before that military relations form the essential basis of Turkish-US ties. Clearly, this has been the case since the days of the Truman Doctrine. The TSK and the US Army have coexisted for over 50 years on the level of the defense industry, in terms of bilateral and multilateral ‘operational’ issues. It’s also no secret that many Turkish officers were trained at American military schools and have worked with the US military as part of NATO. So, obviously, weakening the military dimension of Turkish-American ties would change the usual meaning of our bilateral political relations.
Diplomats from both countries are now working hard to halt this negative course of events. This is what they are supposed to do. But we see that developments in Turkish-US relations are going beyond diplomats and have their own dynamics. The tense atmosphere over our upcoming elections and the confusion over the Iraq issue will obviously hurt bilateral relations. I think the US is responsible for the current situation. It was a huge mistake for the US to consider Turkey ‘a bird in hand’ by relying on an alliance which has been strong for 50 years. It was a worse mistake to consider Turkey a country which can be ‘distracted’ on such a vital issue as the terrorist PKK. But if it had instead seen Turkey realistically, it would have known that the collective will in Turkey has always been in favor of its national interests, even if there is a ‘strategic’ relationship. The fact that Washington didn’t see this it is now dragging its relations with Turkey to an uncertain and dangerous future.

A Northern Iraq Operation?

Every day our citizens die and our soldiers fall. We can’t tolerate this any more. The separatist terrorist group is based in northern Iraq, and is protected and supported. It is allowed to infiltrate our territory, and its terrorist acts in our country are overlooked. Stop this! If you say that you can’t afford to do so, let’s do it together. If you don’t do this either, Turkey is determined to single-handedly take effective measures against this terrorist group in line with the UN Charter and internationally binding conventions.’ In sum, Turkey gives the message that it will go and strike these terrorists’ dens. But this isn’t the first time Turkey has given such a message to the US and Iraq….
What will Turkey do now?
It will follow a policy of pressuring the Kurdish government in northern Iraq to abandon the support and freedom it gives and the tolerance it shows the PKK. It will seek the support of the US and the Iraqi central government for this.
Should this policy not yield any concrete results, a military operation seems inevitable. But such an operation isn’t very likely, at least before July’s general elections.

Posted by: Bea | Jun 8 2007 15:08 utc | 15