A question of sovereignty - USA/Iraq/Kurds/Turkey
Mohammad Akef Jamal; 5/3/08
The Turkish parliament overwhelmingly authorised cross-border military attacks in northern Iraq against Kurdish separatist rebels last October. Lawmakers voted 507 to 19 to give Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, permission to order strategic strikes against, or large-scale invasion of, parts of Iraqi Kurdistan. Before the vote, Turkish guns and helicopters were shelling the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) strongholds. The information about PKK rebels’ whereabouts was supplied by US intelligence sources. This military campaign affected civilians, mostly farmers and shepherds, who were forced to leave their homes. The shelling destroyed many of their homes.
See: http://www.gulfnews.com/opinion/columns/region/10194809.html