http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/06/06/...q.ap/index.html
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- Several thousand Turkish troops crossed into northern Iraq early Wednesday to chase Kurdish guerrillas who operate from bases there, Turkish security officials said.
Two senior security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, said the raid was limited in scope and that it did not constitute the kind of large incursion that Turkish leaders have been discussing in recent weeks.
"It is not a major offensive and the number of troops is not in the tens of thousands," one of the officials told The Associated Press by telephone. The official is based in southeast Turkey, where the military has been battling separatist Kurdish rebels since they took up arms in 1984.
Full Version: Happening Now: Turkey Invading Iraq
Woah! 
hmmm... 
THERE ARE 50,000 TURKISH TROOPS IN NORTHERN IRAQ...IF THIS IS JUST A RAID, HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE THEY RAIDING?
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=4284
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=4284
Oil rises on report of Turkish troops in Iraq
Wed Jun 6, 2007 3:40PM EDT
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[-] Text [+] NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rose above $71 a barrel on Wednesday after news Turkish troops conducted operations in northern Iraq rekindled concerns over escalating tensions in the Middle East.
Prices were also buoyed by a U.S. government report showing the nation's refineries struggling to boost fuel production at the start of the peak demand summer vacation season, and disruptions in oil and gas exports from Oman after a cyclone in the Arabian Sea shut loading operations.
London Brent crude jumped 52 cents to $70.97 a barrel by 1830 GMT, after hitting $71.40 earlier in the day. U.S. crude settled up 35 cents to $65.96 a barrel.
Turkish troops conducted a "limited operation" into northern Iraq in recent days in pursuit of Kurdish rebels, a military official said on Wednesday.
U.S. oil traders said they were concerned the incursion could escalate tension in the energy-rich region.
"The Turkey thing popped us up," said Phil Flynn, analyst at Alaron Trading in Chicago. "The concern is the Middle East could get out of hand."
The news came after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported oil refineries were running at the lowest rate for this time of the year in 15 years amid a series of operational breakdowns.
Strong imports of gasoline, however, led to an increase in commercial stockpiles of 3.5 million barrels -- well above an anticipated 1.4-million-barrel increase, but refineries were running at just shy of 90 percent capacity.
Investors were earlier focused on Cyclone Gonu, the strongest storm to reach Oman in 30 years, which disrupted the country's crude exports of 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) for a second straight day.
It weakened on Wednesday to the equivalent of a Category One hurricane from a maximum-force Category Five, en route to the Strait of Hormuz, a major Gulf oil export route, and towards southeastern Iran.
An Iranian oil official said crude shipments of 2.4 million bpd from OPEC's second biggest producer were not expected to be affected.
"We doubt the few days of export delays caused by the storm will, in the end, contribute much to the upside or create measurable disruptions to the system," said Edward Meir of Man Financial Energy Group.
Disruptions to Nigerian oil output and Iran's nuclear dispute with the West remain underlying issues affecting prices.
Some 722,000 bpd of Nigerian production, or about 26 percent of the country's capacity, remained shut in due to militant attacks and sabotage.
............................................benny
Wed Jun 6, 2007 3:40PM EDT
Email This Article | Print This Article | Reprints
[-] Text [+] NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rose above $71 a barrel on Wednesday after news Turkish troops conducted operations in northern Iraq rekindled concerns over escalating tensions in the Middle East.
Prices were also buoyed by a U.S. government report showing the nation's refineries struggling to boost fuel production at the start of the peak demand summer vacation season, and disruptions in oil and gas exports from Oman after a cyclone in the Arabian Sea shut loading operations.
London Brent crude jumped 52 cents to $70.97 a barrel by 1830 GMT, after hitting $71.40 earlier in the day. U.S. crude settled up 35 cents to $65.96 a barrel.
Turkish troops conducted a "limited operation" into northern Iraq in recent days in pursuit of Kurdish rebels, a military official said on Wednesday.
U.S. oil traders said they were concerned the incursion could escalate tension in the energy-rich region.
"The Turkey thing popped us up," said Phil Flynn, analyst at Alaron Trading in Chicago. "The concern is the Middle East could get out of hand."
The news came after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported oil refineries were running at the lowest rate for this time of the year in 15 years amid a series of operational breakdowns.
Strong imports of gasoline, however, led to an increase in commercial stockpiles of 3.5 million barrels -- well above an anticipated 1.4-million-barrel increase, but refineries were running at just shy of 90 percent capacity.
Investors were earlier focused on Cyclone Gonu, the strongest storm to reach Oman in 30 years, which disrupted the country's crude exports of 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) for a second straight day.
It weakened on Wednesday to the equivalent of a Category One hurricane from a maximum-force Category Five, en route to the Strait of Hormuz, a major Gulf oil export route, and towards southeastern Iran.
An Iranian oil official said crude shipments of 2.4 million bpd from OPEC's second biggest producer were not expected to be affected.
"We doubt the few days of export delays caused by the storm will, in the end, contribute much to the upside or create measurable disruptions to the system," said Edward Meir of Man Financial Energy Group.
Disruptions to Nigerian oil output and Iran's nuclear dispute with the West remain underlying issues affecting prices.
Some 722,000 bpd of Nigerian production, or about 26 percent of the country's capacity, remained shut in due to militant attacks and sabotage.
............................................benny
Thanks my aeronautical rodent, here's a Debka report from yesterday:
DEBKAfile Exclusive: US forces transfer Iraqi Kurdistan’s security responsibility to local peshmerga to sidestep threatened Turkish invasion
Defense Secretary Robert Gates Sunday cautioned Turkey against sending troops into northern Iraq.
The heavy Turkish military buildup on the border of Iraqi Kurdistan last week prompted the autonomous region’s president, Massoud Barzani, to send a personal emissary, Safin Dizai, to Ankara with an urgent message.
Turkish tanks would not be allowed to cross into northern Iraq, he said. The Kurdish army known as peshmerga would repel them. “The people of Kurdistan,“ said the messenger, “would not stand by as spectators if Turkish tanks and panzers entered Kirkuk.” And finally, “Turkey also knows that a military incursion is out of the question. The world will not allow this. The US is here and does not want it.”
The Kurdish leader had his answer Thursday, May 31, when Turkish chief of staff Gen. Yasar Büyükanıt declared his army was ready for incursion into northern Iraq. "There is not only the PKK in northern Iraq,” he said. “There is Massoud Barzani as well"
This incursion unheeding of strains with Washington would have two objectives, according to DEBKAfile’s military sources: To prevent the rise of an independent Kurdish state in northern Iraq and the fall of the oil town of Kirkuk into Kurdish hands. “Turkey cannot afford an independent Kurdish state headed by Barzani on its southern border,” said Gen. Büyükanıt.
Our sources add that Ankara has dramatically broadened its objectives since early May, when the Turks talked about a limited strike against separatist PKK hideouts in the Kandil mountains of N. Iraq. At the same time, as DEBKA-Net-Weekly 294 revealed on March 23, 80,000 Turkish troops were concentrated already then at Sirank, opposite the meeting point of the Turkish, Iraqi and Syrian borders.
A bombing in downtown Ankara earlier this month killed six people and injured more than a hundred. The PKK was blamed.
Sunday, May 27, US Secretary of state Condoleezza Rice and Turkish foreign minister Abdullah Gul discussed the possible outbreak of Turkish-Kurdish hostilities. Immediately after the conversation, the US military command began its preparations. Washington decided its first priority must be to avoid a military clash between US forces stationed in Kurdistan and invading Turkish units. No time was lost. May 30, US commanders and Barzani signed a document transferring security responsibility for the region from coalition forces to the Kurdish peshmerga. American troops were hurriedly pulled out of the Kurdish towns of Irbil, Dohuk and Suleimaniyeh, but remain in force in and around Kirkkuk.
DEBKAfile Exclusive: US forces transfer Iraqi Kurdistan’s security responsibility to local peshmerga to sidestep threatened Turkish invasion
Defense Secretary Robert Gates Sunday cautioned Turkey against sending troops into northern Iraq.
The heavy Turkish military buildup on the border of Iraqi Kurdistan last week prompted the autonomous region’s president, Massoud Barzani, to send a personal emissary, Safin Dizai, to Ankara with an urgent message.
Turkish tanks would not be allowed to cross into northern Iraq, he said. The Kurdish army known as peshmerga would repel them. “The people of Kurdistan,“ said the messenger, “would not stand by as spectators if Turkish tanks and panzers entered Kirkuk.” And finally, “Turkey also knows that a military incursion is out of the question. The world will not allow this. The US is here and does not want it.”
The Kurdish leader had his answer Thursday, May 31, when Turkish chief of staff Gen. Yasar Büyükanıt declared his army was ready for incursion into northern Iraq. "There is not only the PKK in northern Iraq,” he said. “There is Massoud Barzani as well"
This incursion unheeding of strains with Washington would have two objectives, according to DEBKAfile’s military sources: To prevent the rise of an independent Kurdish state in northern Iraq and the fall of the oil town of Kirkuk into Kurdish hands. “Turkey cannot afford an independent Kurdish state headed by Barzani on its southern border,” said Gen. Büyükanıt.
Our sources add that Ankara has dramatically broadened its objectives since early May, when the Turks talked about a limited strike against separatist PKK hideouts in the Kandil mountains of N. Iraq. At the same time, as DEBKA-Net-Weekly 294 revealed on March 23, 80,000 Turkish troops were concentrated already then at Sirank, opposite the meeting point of the Turkish, Iraqi and Syrian borders.
A bombing in downtown Ankara earlier this month killed six people and injured more than a hundred. The PKK was blamed.
Sunday, May 27, US Secretary of state Condoleezza Rice and Turkish foreign minister Abdullah Gul discussed the possible outbreak of Turkish-Kurdish hostilities. Immediately after the conversation, the US military command began its preparations. Washington decided its first priority must be to avoid a military clash between US forces stationed in Kurdistan and invading Turkish units. No time was lost. May 30, US commanders and Barzani signed a document transferring security responsibility for the region from coalition forces to the Kurdish peshmerga. American troops were hurriedly pulled out of the Kurdish towns of Irbil, Dohuk and Suleimaniyeh, but remain in force in and around Kirkkuk.
QUOTE(daysofnoah @ Jun 6 2007, 03:30 PM) [snapback]114791[/snapback]
Thanks my aeronautical rodent,
LOL
QUOTE
Thanks my aeronautical rodent
That took me a sec, Scott. Oh my.
VERY FUNNY!
Turkey imposes three-month martial law on its border region with Iraq, closes region’s airspace to civilian flights, DEBKAfile’s military sources report
June 7, 2007, 3:59 PM (GMT+02:00)
The announcement appeared Thursday, June 7, on the Turkish General Command’s Web site and mentioned three zones Siirt, Sirnak, where Turkish forces fighting Kurdish PKK rebels are concentrated, and Hakkari.
It followed the outbreak of fierce battles between Turkish army and Kurdish PKK rebels on both sides of Turkish-Iraqi border. A Turkish Black Hawk shot down over Iraq and several tanks hit. Heavy casualties are reported on both sides.
The PKK Kurdish Workers Party turns out to have been ready for the major Turkish operation, well-armed with anti-tank and shoulder-borne missiles for shooting down Turkish warplanes and helicopters. Despite Ankara’s blackout on the scale of operation against the Kurdish rebels on both sides of the border and the scope of the Turkish incursion of Iraq, DEBKAfile’s military sources report the situation as of Thursday, June 7:
PKK bands, who stole earlier into southeastern Turkey from Iraq and locally, are hitting Turkish concentrations behind the lines and impeding their thrust into Iraqi Kurdistan to destroy rebel hideouts. The Turkish army is therefore fighting on two fronts: in the southeastern Turkish Gabar, Cudi and Bakok mountains and River Cehennem, as well as in northern Iraq.
DEBKAfile’s military sources reported Wednesday that the several thousand troops which entered N. Iraq were only the first wave of the Turkish invasion, with more to come. US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the US ambassador to Ankara had met with the Turkish General Staff, which confirmed that the initial reports of the invasion were not accurate. Later reports spoke of a “cross-border” raid.
Our military sources estimate that some 15,000 rebel Kurdish Workers Party, PKK, are holed up in Iraqi Kurdistan. To destroy their bases would require many more than the few thousand Turkish troops and longer than a cross-border raid admitted by Ankara – especially if the incursion sparked Iraqi Kurdish resistance as has been threatened.
An expert on Turkey at the Washington Institute for Near East policy, Soner Cagaptay, is quoted by the New York Sun as estimating there are now 250,000 soldiers massed at the Qandil mountain range on the border with northern Iraq, including heavy artillery and tanks. An Iraqi official cited 100,000. DEBKAfile’s military experts estimate 80-90,000.
The Turkish news agency Cehan reported Wednesday that three F-16 Falcon fighter bombers had carried out bombing raids on positions of the PKK in northern Iraq. Artillery deployed at the border with Iraq had fired at “pinpointed targets.”
On June 2, DEBKAfile reported US troops had withdrawn from northern Iraq and passed responsibility for the region’s security to the Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga. This followed an urgent message Iraqi Kurdistan’s president, Massoud Barzani, sent to Ankara by a personal emissary, Safin Dizai, warning that Turkish tanks would not be allowed to cross into northern Iraq. The Kurdish peshmerga would repel them. “The people of Kurdistan,“ said the messenger, “would not stand by as spectators if Turkish tanks and panzers entered Kirkuk.”
Monday, Kurdish PKK rebels killed at least 8 soldiers, wounding 6, in a suicide attack on an E. Turkish checkpoint at Tunceli.
After the attack, Turkish foreign minister Abdullah Gulf defended his country’s right to drive into neighboring Iraq to destroy rebel bases.
June 7, 2007, 3:59 PM (GMT+02:00)
The announcement appeared Thursday, June 7, on the Turkish General Command’s Web site and mentioned three zones Siirt, Sirnak, where Turkish forces fighting Kurdish PKK rebels are concentrated, and Hakkari.
It followed the outbreak of fierce battles between Turkish army and Kurdish PKK rebels on both sides of Turkish-Iraqi border. A Turkish Black Hawk shot down over Iraq and several tanks hit. Heavy casualties are reported on both sides.
The PKK Kurdish Workers Party turns out to have been ready for the major Turkish operation, well-armed with anti-tank and shoulder-borne missiles for shooting down Turkish warplanes and helicopters. Despite Ankara’s blackout on the scale of operation against the Kurdish rebels on both sides of the border and the scope of the Turkish incursion of Iraq, DEBKAfile’s military sources report the situation as of Thursday, June 7:
PKK bands, who stole earlier into southeastern Turkey from Iraq and locally, are hitting Turkish concentrations behind the lines and impeding their thrust into Iraqi Kurdistan to destroy rebel hideouts. The Turkish army is therefore fighting on two fronts: in the southeastern Turkish Gabar, Cudi and Bakok mountains and River Cehennem, as well as in northern Iraq.
DEBKAfile’s military sources reported Wednesday that the several thousand troops which entered N. Iraq were only the first wave of the Turkish invasion, with more to come. US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the US ambassador to Ankara had met with the Turkish General Staff, which confirmed that the initial reports of the invasion were not accurate. Later reports spoke of a “cross-border” raid.
Our military sources estimate that some 15,000 rebel Kurdish Workers Party, PKK, are holed up in Iraqi Kurdistan. To destroy their bases would require many more than the few thousand Turkish troops and longer than a cross-border raid admitted by Ankara – especially if the incursion sparked Iraqi Kurdish resistance as has been threatened.
An expert on Turkey at the Washington Institute for Near East policy, Soner Cagaptay, is quoted by the New York Sun as estimating there are now 250,000 soldiers massed at the Qandil mountain range on the border with northern Iraq, including heavy artillery and tanks. An Iraqi official cited 100,000. DEBKAfile’s military experts estimate 80-90,000.
The Turkish news agency Cehan reported Wednesday that three F-16 Falcon fighter bombers had carried out bombing raids on positions of the PKK in northern Iraq. Artillery deployed at the border with Iraq had fired at “pinpointed targets.”
On June 2, DEBKAfile reported US troops had withdrawn from northern Iraq and passed responsibility for the region’s security to the Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga. This followed an urgent message Iraqi Kurdistan’s president, Massoud Barzani, sent to Ankara by a personal emissary, Safin Dizai, warning that Turkish tanks would not be allowed to cross into northern Iraq. The Kurdish peshmerga would repel them. “The people of Kurdistan,“ said the messenger, “would not stand by as spectators if Turkish tanks and panzers entered Kirkuk.”
Monday, Kurdish PKK rebels killed at least 8 soldiers, wounding 6, in a suicide attack on an E. Turkish checkpoint at Tunceli.
After the attack, Turkish foreign minister Abdullah Gulf defended his country’s right to drive into neighboring Iraq to destroy rebel bases.
an army from the north, huh! there are so many possibilities as to whom the king of the north is. Try not to be so focused on only Russia for this, but also do not exclude her either.
QUOTE(End-Time Calling @ Jun 7 2007, 02:30 PM) [snapback]114890[/snapback]
an army from the north, huh! there are so many possibilities as to whom the king of the north is. Try not to be so focused on only Russia for this, but also do not exclude her either.
Greetings all:
No, indeed. We can not rule Turkey out as the King of the North.
Sincerely yours,
Wendy
QUOTE(Godisgood @ Jun 7 2007, 08:42 PM) [snapback]114915[/snapback]
QUOTE(End-Time Calling @ Jun 7 2007, 02:30 PM) [snapback]114890[/snapback]
an army from the north, huh! there are so many possibilities as to whom the king of the north is. Try not to be so focused on only Russia for this, but also do not exclude her either.
Greetings all:
No, indeed. We can not rule Turkey out as the King of the North.
Sincerely yours,
Wendy
No in fact, Gog may have also been a King located in Turkey according to some sources. Besides, originally when Greece was partitioned---Turkey did hold the position of King of the North. Its old name is Lydia I think.
Anyway here is an update on Turkey invading N. Iraq:
http://www.infowars.com/articles/iraq/turk...rthern_iraq.htm
Turkey bombards northern Iraq
July 19, 2007
Turkey's military has waged a cross-border incursion into Iraq, bombarding northern areas of the country, the Iraqi government said.
The Iraqi government said Wednesday that Turkish artillery and warplanes bombarded areas of northern Iraq and urged Turkey to stop military operations and resort to dialogue, according to news agencies.
The claim occurred amid mounting Turkish threats to strike bases of the Kurdistan Workers Party or PKK, which has been launching attacks against targets in Turkey from sanctuaries in Iraq.
Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh has told that the bombardment struck areas of the northern province of Dahuk, some 430 kilometers (260 miles) northwest of Baghdad.
Col. Hussein Kamal said about 250 shells were fired into Iraq from Turkey. He added that there were no casualties on the Iraqi side of the border.
"We have received reports that the Turkish government and the Turkish army have bombed border villages. The Iraqi government regrets the Turkish military operations against border cities and towns," al-Dabbagh said.
Last week, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari declared that Turkey had deployed 140,000 soldiers along its border with Iraq.
Kurdish rebels staged a bomb attack against a military vehicle, killing two Turkish soldiers and wounding six others near the Iraqi border on Wednesday.
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