BorderWatch:Turkey
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Conflict or Cooperation? Ankara and Irbil in a Complex Relationship
Below is the executive summary of the newly released International Crisis Group entitled "Turkey and Iraqi Kurds: Conflict or Cooperation?"
At a time when rising Arab-Kurdish tensions again threaten Iraq’s stability, neighbouring Turkey has begun to cast a large shadow over Iraqi Kurdistan. It has been a study in contrasts: Turkish jets periodically bomb suspected hideouts of the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (Partiya Karkerên Kurdistan, PKK) in northern Iraq, and Ankara expresses alarm at the prospect of Kurdish independence, yet at the same time has significantly deepened its ties to the Iraqi Kurdish region. Both Turkey and Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG, a term Turkey studiously avoids) would be well served by keeping ultra-nationalism at bay and continuing to invest in a relationship that, though fragile and buffeted by the many uncertainties surrounding Iraq, has proved...
ON THE BRINK?
Media Review Gives Incomplete Picture But Good Sense of What Is Happening
Shwan Mohammad/AFP/Getty
Iraqis inspect the damage following air strikes by Turkish warplanes in Qandil, 16 December 2007.
A fury of reportage was launched by a KRG spokesman's announcement Tuesday that Turkish troops had crossed the border into northern Iraq.
The Turkish government has not yet confirmed any operations have followed the aerial...
Commentary
Iraqi Leaders Protest Lack of US Protection, But America Choosing Other Priority
Shwan Mohammad/AFP/Getty
Iraqis inspect the damage following air strikes by Turkish warplanes in Qandil, 16 December 2007.
Turkish airstrikes over the weekend reportedly aiming to level PKK sanctuaries in Kurdistan have also appeared to score a direct hit against US-Iraqi relations, though much of the public demonstration of Iraqi discontent being...
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Erdoğan's Public Comments Spark Speculation Over Government's Intent
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Weekend Attack on Northern Iraq Could Be First of Targeted Series
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Defector Reportedly Tells Turkish Authorities Which Country Likely Future Home
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Turkish Media Reports Man Testifies to US Soldiers Visiting PKK Camps
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Turkish Media Reports Iraq Moving Against Kurdish Camp Near Border
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Tensions Between Iraq, Turkey in Decline After Latest Developments
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Ankara's Obfuscation Generating High Anticipation, Much Confusion
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Turkish Media Cites Favorable Development in Kurdistan's Security Efforts
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Kurdish Region Cites Unemployment as Biggest Cause of Instability
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Suspicion Remains Over American Sincerity in Fight Against PKK
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Ankara's Long-Term Plan Works to Sway Citizens Away From Homeland Aspirations
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CSIS Report: Low Probability of Incursion Because of Low Chance for Success
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Turkish Military Near Border Keep Up Pressure for Action
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Journalists Find Kurdish Rebel Outposts With Ease, So Why Can't Iraq?
