KILLING SEVERAL BIRDS WITH ONE STONE

For the first time du-ring the ongoing aggravation of Turkey's struggle with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Turkish Armed Forces have conducted a military operation in northern Iraq, advancing 3-5 kilometres into the neighbouring country's territory, and spending about half a day there.

The Turkish Defence Ministry released a statement saying that the special-purpose units "were hot on the trail of a group of terrorists." According to the statement by the General Staff, reports were received on the night of 17-18 December about gunmen trying to cross the Turkish-Iraqi border. "As a result of a local-level special operation, the group took heavy casualties," the military reported.  The General Staff did not disclose the strength of the contingent which was sent to carry out the combat mission.  However, according to numerous sources, from 300 to 1,500 persons, and even tanks, were involved.

The military department also summarised the results of an air operation carried out earlier. Some 50 aircraft of the Turkish Air Force carried out a series of air strikes against a position of the PKK in northern Iraq. According to Turkish General Staff Chief, Yasar Buyukanit, "The Americans opened up Iraqi airspace for the Turkish Air Force last night, thereby authorizing the operation." The United States, for their part, say that they did not approve of the Turkish air raid in northern Iraq, but were informed of preparations for the special operation.

However, Turkey maintains that the United States did assist the bombing. Turkish Ambassador to the United States, Nabi Sensoy, said that reports about the precise location of the targets for Turkish combat aircraft were received from the Americans. Nonetheless, the United States deny this, although they do admit that they had a role to play in the air raid. In the Turkish ambassador's opinion, the air strikes are a "serious message to the terrorists of the Kurdistan Workers Party."

Ankara's unprecedented activity coincided with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's visit to Iraq. She went first to the city of Kirkuk in the north of the country, where she met with representatives of the regional administration.  Then she visited Baghdad and held talks with the head of state, Jalal Talabani, and other Iraqi leaders. At a press conference with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, the head of the US foreign political department said that, "Turkey, the United States and Iraq are carrying out joint measures against terrorism. We know that Turkey has carried out an operation against the Kurdistan Workers Party. We share its goals. At the same time, we are against any activity aiming at destabilization of the situation in Northern Iraq."

According to the Al Jazeera TV channel, the US military in Iraq, who control the country's airspace, learned about the raid only when Turkish aircraft had already crossed the border. Nonetheless, facts are stubborn things. By supplying intelligence for the precision strikes and, so to speak, turning a blind eye to the crossing of the Iraqi border by Turkish sub-units, Washington tacitly acquiesced to the strikes against the bases of Kurdish terrorists in northern Iraq. On the other hand, it is quite natural that the Americans do not come straight out about this. Firstly, Washington is not going to admit that it backed off, once again, under pressure from Ankara. Secondly, this would disappoint the Iraqi Kurds, who are viewed as the United States' closest allies in Iraq. In contrast to the Sunnis and Shi'a, not only have they never created problems for the US command, but they even helped the United States hunt down Washington's main enemy, Saddam Hussein. The United States did not leave the favour unreturned and, as a sign of appreciation, promoted ethnic Kurd Jalal Talabani to the post of Iraqi president.

So, once Turkey had given its military the green light to proceed with military operations in northern Iraq, the United States found themselves caught between two allies, Turkey and the Iraqi Kurds. In an attempt to defuse the situation, President Bush, through White House Press Secretary, Dana Perino, asked Turkey "to be very limited in its activities." And Condoleezza Rice demanded that Ankara desist from activities that might result in the destabilization of Iraq. She said that the region needs a "thoroughly systematic approach" to the fight against separatists. She also confided to the Iraqis:  "We have made clear to the Turkish Government that we continue to be concerned about anything that could lead to innocent civilian casualties or to the destabilization of the north."

This came too late, however. Washington, it seems, has managed to disappoint the leadership of the Iraqi Kurds so much that their leader Massoud Barzani even refused to meet Condoleezza Rice.  He said that the bombing of peaceful villages brings into question the possibility of continuing the dialogue with Ankara and Washington. However, the Kurdish leadership does not want to completely sever its relations with the United States. And neither do the United States want this to happen.

The course of these developments shows, however, that, in contrast to Washington, it does not make any difference at all to Ankara whether Barzani continues the dialogue or not. The Turkish leadership has said more than once that it is dealing with terrorists, regardless of whether they are Iraqi or Turkish, not with the Kurds and that the peaceful villages which Barzani spoke about are in fact shelters for terrorists. It is no secret that terrorist groups make skilful use of peaceful infrastructure, including kindergartens and schools, for cover. And so do the PKK gunmen. They come down from the mountains in the winter, throw their fellow Kurds out of their homes and settle there. It is unlikely that Barzani does not know all this, and the US intelligence services, which supply Turkey with information on the terrorists' whereabouts, know this for certain. Who, then, is the enemy of the Kurdish people, the PKK or the Turkish Army? - Ankara asks a pertinent question.

So, Turkey has expressed a quite well-founded and independent position on its fight against the terrorist PKK and made quite effective use of its geopolitical advantages. The Erdogan administration has effectively killed several birds with one stone. Firstly, foreign political obstacles have been removed and a crackdown on the terrorists in their own "den" has started. Secondly, Ankara's position in the region has been consolidated. Thirdly, consensus has been reached with the country's military leadership and last, but not least, domestic political support for the cabinet has increased noticeably. And most importantly, Ankara has let the international community know how serious it is in its intention to safeguard its national security, thereby proving that it is possible to deal with even the notorious policy of "double standards" which currently seems to prevail in the world.