There are ominous signs that Turkey is ready to open up a new front in the Iraq war by attacking Kurdistan Workers' party (PKK) guerrillas on the Iraq-Turkey border. This doesn't bode well for the United States' occupation of Iraq, whose armed forces are already stretched thin across other sections of the country.
Upto now, the Kurdish region of northern Iraq had remained relatively free of confrontations with the populace or with the well-armed local militia known as the peshmerga. In fact, the Kurdish peshmergas had been recruited recently by the Iraqi government to particpate in joint forays with the US army as part of current military operations to pacify and secure parts of Baghdad.
According to UK's Guardian, the Turkish armed forces will be forced to enter the northern region of Iraq if the PKK guerrillas decide to attack across the border:
Link:http://www.guardian.co.uk/turkey/story/0,,2041022,00.html
The US is scrambling to head off a "disastrous" Turkish military intervention in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq that threatens to derail the Baghdad security surge and open up a third front in the battle to save Iraq from disintegration.
Senior Bush administration officials have assured Turkey in recent days that US forces will increase efforts to root out Kurdistan Workers' party (PKK) guerrillas enjoying safe haven in the Qandil mountains, on the Iraq-Iran-Turkey border.
[snip]
. . . Abdullah Gul, Turkey's foreign minister, MPs, military chiefs and diplomats say up to 3,800 PKK fighters are preparing for attacks in south-east Turkey - and Turkey is ready to hit back if the Americans fail to act.
Also, see earlier diary: Who are the Kurds? (Possibility of Wider War)