THE KURDS, TURKEY AND IRAN

Although the 3 Kurdish provinces are the only stable ones in Iraq, there is still no cause for celebration. The PKK, a Kurdish separatist group, has long been in a low-level war with Turkey and now seems to be turning its sights on Iran:


PKK threatens hit-and-run attacks on Iran
5/6/2006 4:00:00 PM GMT

Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK), a quazi-socialist rebel movement that had been fighting for independence in the majority Kurdish southeast of Turkey threatened on Saturday to launch a hit-and-run attacks on Iran, because the Shia state had recently plotted a bomb attack against group's positions inside Iraq to gain Turkey's support against the U.S., amidst rising escalations over Tehran's nuclear program AFP reported.

"We have the right to launch attacks against Iranian forces," said Cemil "Cuma" Bayik, PKK de facto leader.

Bayik argued that recent Iranian artillery attack on PKK camps in Iraqi Kurdistan implies that the group's battle could spread to Iran.

Turkey may also be preparing for an incursion into Iraq:

The Turkish media for days has been reporting that Ankara is planning a large-scale, cross-border operation against PKK hideouts in northern Iraq.

Istanbul's "Ortadogu" reported on April 23 that the Turkish armed forces had deployed two brigades to the Iraq border in preparation for the operation.

It said the campaign would include air strikes against six PKK camps in the Qandil Mountain range along the Turkish-Iraqi border, where an estimated 6,000 militants are believed to be sheltering.