Turkey is now in Syria, but IS aren’t the only target

This article nails it - ISIS is nothing to Turkey and it's Mohammedan government...it's the Kurds that Turkey is after.

The story comes from DAWN.

Turkey is now in Syria, but IS aren’t the only target

HOW the West would love to believe that Turkey’s army in Syria — all 10 tanks of it — are striking at last at everyone’s enemy, the blood-soaked cult of the militant Islamic State group. But few in Syria or Turkey will be fooled.

The IS have been sitting in Jarabulus for many months; it is the advance of the American-armed Kurdish YPG militia along the Turkish border towards Jarabulus that worries Sultan Erdogan.

And yet again as Turkish troops advanced, he bundled up the YPG (People’s Protection Units) — who the Turks believe have connections with the PKK or Kurdistan Workers’ Party, whom they view as much more dangerous — as “terrorists”, along with the IS. In other words, he’s calling both the anti-Assad IS and the anti-IS Kurds the enemies of Turkey (as he did after the suicide bombing of a wedding in Gazientep last weekend), lumping his pet hates together. Only his obsession with Fethullah Gulen, whom he blames for July’s failed coup, has been omitted from his latest “battle” objectives in Syria.

Erdogan’s latest ally, Tsar Vladimir, will have no objections. At one blow, Turkey strikes — however feebly — at both the IS and the pro-American Kurdish militia with whose apparatchiks Moscow has remained studiously aloof. The Syrians will know — and surely will have been told — that Putin supports Turkey’s little incursion. They will be in no mood to protest since their own government army was fighting the same Kurdish group in the city of Hassakeh until a ceasefire two days ago. Here, too, the YPG was trying to seize Syrian sovereign territory.

Put simply, the YPG is getting too big for its boots. It is using the anti-IS war to carve out a little homeland inside Syria along the Turkish border and gobbling up as much of Syria as it can before the civil war ends. The Turks don’t want a Kurdish mini-state on their frontier any more than the Syrians want to lose territory to the Kurds. The anti-Assad “Free Syrian Army” (FSA) is supposed to be among Turkey’s little squadron of armour heading for Jarabulus but this is likely to be of little interest to Damascus: Syrian troops have long since ceased to regard the FSA as a serious military force and will not worry if its men wish to “martyr” themselves.

It’s all bad news for the IS, of course. And deeply ironic, for it was at the very same Jarabulus — under Turkish shellfire yesterday — where TE Lawrence “of Arabia” spent some of the happiest months of his life before the First World War, digging through the ancient ruins of Carcamish, and where he began to frame his affectionate but also deeply racist view of the Arabs. The sterility of the desert, Lawrence would later write of anyone who lived there “robbed him of compassion and perverted his human kindness to the image of the waste in which he hid”.

He wrote of the Arab’s “delight in pain” and of how the desert became “a spiritual iceberg, in which was preserved intact but unimproved for all ages a vision of the unity of God”. Perhaps Lawrence got closer to the mind of the IS than we might imagine. Now the Turks can discover this for themselves in the new ruins of Jarabulus.

Did the Turks Assassinate Three Kurdish Women in Paris?

With a renewed vengeance to punish Kurdish dissidents, Turkey has begun new operations to fight the PKK (Kurdistan Worker's Party) but would the Turks literally send assassins to Paris, France to take out three Kurdish women who were activists for the PKK?

The story comes from Now Media via The Religion of Peace.

Three Kurdish activists shot dead in Paris hit


Three Kurdish women, said to include a founding member of the outlawed Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK), were shot dead overnight Thursday in Paris in what France's interior minister dubbed an "assassination."

The women were found in the early hours with gunshot wounds to the head inside a Kurdish information center in the 10th district of the French capital, police and the center's director said.

French Interior Minister Manuel Valls visited the scene of the crime and described the killings as "assassinations."

The murders came after Turkish media reported Wednesday that the Turkish government and jailed Kurd rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan had agreed on a roadmap to end a three-decade-old insurgency that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.

One of the dead in the Paris center was Sakine Cansiz, said the Federation of Kurdish Associations in France, which described her as a founding member of the PKK, which is fighting for greater Kurdish autonomy.

A second was said to be 32-year-old Fidan Dogan, an employee of the information center, who was also the Paris representative of the Brussels-based Kurdistan National Congress political group.

The third was Leyla Soylemez, described by the federation as a "young activist."

The three were last seen alive midday on Wednesday at the center, according to the centre's director, Leon Edart.

Friends and colleagues who tried and failed to contact them eventually went to the center and found traces of blood on the door, which they then forced open to find the bodies of the three inside, the Kurdish federation said.

Hundreds of Kurds gathered Thursday in front of the center to protest at the deaths, with some of them chanting "We are all PKK!" and "Turkey assassin, Hollande complicit," referring to French President Francois Hollande.

Around 45,000 people are believed to have been killed in the fighting between Turkish security forces and the rebels, who took up arms in 1984 under Ocalan's command, to obtain self-rule in the Kurdish-majority southeast.

Previous peace talks floundered after the PKK leadership demanded the release of Ocalan.

Huge Battle Between Turkish Soldiers and Kurdish Rebels Leaves 19 Dead

 PKK fighters stand near the Qandil mountains near the Iraq-Turkish border.The PKK, considered a terrorist organisation by Turkey and much of the international community. — File Photo by Reuters

Things are heating up along the Turkey-Iraq border as Kurdish rebels, last night, attacked a military post - the ensuing battle killed 19 - six Turkish soldiers, 11 Kurds and some local police.

I personally don't go along with the label of the Kurdish rebels or PKK as a terrorist organization - I've always sided with the Kurds and we saw during the Iraq War that America could trust the Kurds where the other factions in the country, we could not.  Plus, I have no love lost for Turkey - never have, never will.  I've always wanted their filth out of NATO, I don't care how strategic their location is.

The story comes from DAWN.

Fighting in southeast Turkey kills 19: governor


ANKARA: Fighting between Turkish soldiers and outlawed Kurdish rebels killed 19 people in the southeast of the country on Sunday, the local governor told the Anatolia news agency.

Six soldiers, two village guards and 11 Kurdish rebels were killed following an overnight rebel attack on an army post in a village in Hakkari province which borders Iraq, the governor Orhan Alimoglu said.

Another 15 soldiers were wounded.

The raid on the army post follows similar assaults in the Kurdish-dominated southeast which have prompted the army to launch an all-out offensive against Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) bases in the area.

The Turkish ground and air operation, one of the biggest in years, was launched about two weeks ago to drive out the rebels in the town of Semdinli, also in Hakkari province.

About 2,000 soldiers are involved in the offensive, private NTV television reported Sunday.

“A serious and strong operation is under way in Semdinli,” Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay said last week.

The PKK, considered a terrorist organisation by Turkey and much of the international community, took up arms in Kurdish-majority southeast Turkey in 1984, sparking a conflict that has claimed some 45,000 lives.

Iran Threatens To Attack Kurds In Iraq Because They Were Given Land IN IRAQ

I had to read the opening paragraphs of this story three times to make sure I had it right - the Iranians are threatening to attack the Kurds and the supposed terrorist group PJAK INSIDE of Iraq because the group had been given a huge tract of land INSIDE of Iraq by an IRAQI Kurdish President.

Got that? In other words, the Iranians are going to fly into and/or send ground troops INTO the nation of Iraq to attack the Kurdish terrorists. Now, I'm not quite sure if the Iraqis are going to sit back and relish in this as they can get the Kurds attacked without them being blamed or if the Iraqis will stand up and tell Iran that there's no way in hell they are allowed in their country or airspace. I'm afraid the former is going to be true. I gotta believe the Iranians wouldn't even make this threat without clearing it with Baghdad ahead of time.

Here's some of the article at Breitbart:

Iran threatened Monday to take military action against the Iraq-based Kurdish rebel group PJAK, saying the head of Iraq's Kurdistan region had handed the group land without telling the government in Baghdad.

A senior Iranian military official accused Masoud Barzani, the Kurdistan president, of "giving 300,000 hectares of land to the PJAK terrorist group without the knowledge of the central government in Baghdad," the semi-official Fars news agency said.

"Iran reserves its right to target and destroy terrorist bases in the border areas," he said. "This terrorist group carries out operations against the Iranian nation with the support of Iraq's Kurdish regional government."

So, is it now Iran that speaks for the "central government in Baghdad?" Are you telling me that the Iraqi government hasn't issued a single statement about this and is going to let Iran take the measure into their hands?

I'm hoping to see some clarification from the Iraqis but what this appears to me to be is the first real indication that Iran is beginning their sphere of influence and domination over Iraq. I can tell you this - there are going to be plenty of Iraqi Sunnis right now who are going to be like cats on hot tin roofs when they hear this news.

Oh, by the way, I almost forgot something. What, pray tell, will happen if Iran sends their troops into Iraq to carry out a raid on the PJAK and the first people they meet inside of Iraq are U.S. Army soldiers?

Iran threatens to attack Iraq-based Kurdish rebels


(Reuters) - Iran threatened Monday to take military action against the Iraq-based Kurdish rebel group PJAK, saying the head of Iraq's Kurdistan region had handed the group land without telling the government in Baghdad.

A senior Iranian military official accused Masoud Barzani, the Kurdistan president, of "giving 300,000 hectares of land to the PJAK terrorist group without the knowledge of the central government in Baghdad," the semi-official Fars news agency said.

"Iran reserves its right to target and destroy terrorist bases in the border areas," he said. "This terrorist group carries out operations against the Iranian nation with the support of Iraq's Kurdish regional government."

Iranian media often report clashes in western Iran between security forces and Kurdish guerrillas said to be members of the

Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK), an offshoot of the Turkey-based Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which took up arms in 1984 for an ethnic homeland in southeast Turkey and northwest Iran.

Like Iraq and Turkey, Iran has a large Kurdish minority, mainly living in northwest and western areas of the Islamic Republic.

"We will not allow terrorists to nest in Iraq and to carry out attacks against our nation with the support of America and the Zionist regime (Israel)," Fars quoted the unidentified military official as saying.

The official urged Iraq to investigate the issue.

Iran and Iraq fought an eight-year war in the 1980s, but since the overthrow in 2003 of Iraq's Saddam Hussein, a Sunni, relations between majority Shi'ite Iraq and predominantly Shi'ite Iran have improved.

Iran is at odds with the United States and its allies over its nuclear program, which the West says is a cover for building nuclear bombs.

Tehran denies the allegation, saying it needs nuclear technology to generate electricity for its growing population.

Breaking: Iraqi Troops and Kurdish Peshmerga Clash In Violence, 2 Iraqi Troops Shot and Wounded

This is really not good. Yesterday, a volatile situation broke out in the Iraqi province of Diyala where Iraqi troops and Kurdish Peshmerga troops clashed over some security issues and what ensued was hand to hand fighting and shots being fired - two Iraqi troops were wounded by gunfire.

Much as I hate to link to Reuters, they are the only ones up with this:

Iraqi soldiers and Kurdish peshmerga fighters exchanged punches and some gunfire along the volatile frontline between minority Kurds and Iraq's majority Arabs, Iraqi officials said on Monday.

A police official in the town said the incident began when a Kurdish peshmerga force parked in a "provocative" position in a market place, blocking other traffic.
An Iraqi army patrol ordered the Kurdish fighters to move but the peshmerga refused. Both sides then started trading insults until a scuffle broke out.
"The Kurdish vehicle drove away and it seems they went to get help. When they came back later clashes erupted," he said. "The Kurdish peshmerga were the first to open fire at the Iraqi military force, wounding two Iraqi soldiers."
One Kurdish peshmerga member was also wounded, he said.

The Kurds in northern Iraq and the Iraqis to the south certainly have had their extreme differences in the past and at the same time, the Kurds are seeing air attacks almost daily from Turkey to the north...so I guess the Kurds have a reason to be a bit testy. But what this depicts is just how volatile Iraq remains. I have lobbied for a U.S. presence in Iraq to continue - not because I want our troops in harm's way but we won this damn war in Iraq and I do not want to see it all go up in a powderkeg after we leave.

If you will note in the article, this skirmish between Iraqis and Kurds was STOPPED BY U.S. TROOPS! Who is going to break this up a year from now? And what would happen if, in this case, some Iraqi troops had been killed?

Iraq troops and Kurd fighters clash in volatile north

Iraqi soldiers and Kurdish peshmerga fighters exchanged punches and some gunfire along the volatile frontline between minority Kurds and Iraq's majority Arabs, Iraqi officials said on Monday.

The confrontation in Qarah Tappah in Diyala province came on Sunday as U.S. Vice President Joe Biden held talks with Iraqi leaders in Baghdad, providing a reminder of the flashpoints that Iraq still has to resolve as U.S. troops prepare to withdraw.

U.S. military leaders fear that long-running disputes between Kurds and Iraqi Arabs over land, oil and power could lead to Iraq's next major conflict as the sectarian bloodshed unleashed after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion recedes.

U.S. troops, and local leaders, intervened in Qarah Tappah and calm had returned, officials said. No one died.

Accounts of the fistfights and exchanges of gunfire given by Iraqi were contradictory and the U.S. military had no comment.

A police official in the town said the incident began when a Kurdish peshmerga force parked in a "provocative" position in a market place, blocking other traffic.

An Iraqi army patrol ordered the Kurdish fighters to move but the peshmerga refused. Both sides then started trading insults until a scuffle broke out.

"The Kurdish vehicle drove away and it seems they went to get help. When they came back later clashes erupted," he said. "The Kurdish peshmerga were the first to open fire at the Iraqi military force, wounding two Iraqi soldiers."

One Kurdish peshmerga member was also wounded, he said.

The official report of the incident said the clashes began when an Iraqi army vehicle crashed into a peshmerga Humvee and another car, an official in the Diyala operations center said.

A gunfight then broke out between Iraqi soldiers and Kurdish police, the official said.

One soldier and policeman were injured and fistfights later erupted between Kurdish fighters and Iraqi troops manning joint checkpoints in the area.

"This is not dangerous. These soldiers and peshmerga working on these checkpoints are young. They cannot control their tempers," the official said.

A third version given by a local Kurdish leader said Kurdish fighters beat a soldiers so badly his commanding officer ordered troops to storm the local peshmerga headquarters.

The Iraqi soldiers went in shooting, he said. Four of them were wounded. He had no information about peshmerga casualties.

U.S. forces have tried to bridge the divide between Kurdish and Iraqi army forces in disputed areas, which Kurds claim as part of their semi-autonomous northern enclave, by organizing joint Iraqi-Kurdish security checkpoints.

The U.S. military believes that by working together, the two sides can grow to trust each other. But the cooperation may vanish after U.S. forces withdraw from Iraq at the end of 2011.

The U.S. military plans to end combat operations in August ahead of next year's full pullout, as President Barack Obama refocuses U.S. efforts and resources on the war in Afghanistan, where the Taliban has proved resilient.

Obama Administration Quick To Condemn Kurdish "Terror" Against Turkey, Still Silent About Pali Terrorism Against Israel

You know, it's pretty darn simple. The Obama administration has toned down any criticism of palestinian terror attacks against Israel to the point that some outsiders have accused them of actually siding with the likes of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah, but yet this week, the Obama administration was LIGHTNING LIKE in their support of Turkey and the condemnation of Kurdish rebels.

Am I the only one that sees the hypocrisy of this?

From the report at Israel National News:

The United States is taking sides with Turkey on the issue of the Kurdish struggle for freedom.

Kurdish rebels blew up a military bus in Istanbul on Wednesday, killing four people in a daring attack likely to intensify the conflict between Turkish occupation forces and Kurdish resistance fighters. The attack came in the wake of a violent weekend in which 12 Turkish soldiers and policemen were killed by Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) guerrillas, who have recently stepped up resistance efforts in areas of northern Kurdistan currently occupied by Turkey.

The United States ambassador to Turkey, meanwhile, released a statement earlier this week that America supports Turkey's efforts to clamp down on Kurdish resistance fighters and is ready to "urgently" consider any new request for help from Ankara. "We stand ready to review urgently any new requests from the Turkish military or government regarding the PKK," Ambassador James Jeffrey said in a written statement on Monday.

"The PKK is a common enemy of both Turkey and the U.S. and we actively support the efforts of our Turkish allies to defeat this terrorist threat," Jeffrey said, stressing that "there has been no change in the level of U.S.-Turkey intelligence sharing regarding the PKK in northern Iraq."

The United States has reportedly been supplying Turkey, a NATO ally, with intelligence on rebel movements in northern Iraq, used particularly in Turkish air raids on PKK hideouts and Kurdish civilian areas in the region.

So, let's just make sure we have this straight - the Obama administration has worked to abandon Israel in its struggle against neighboring enemy states and terrorist groups, but they are assisting Turkey with its struggle against the neighboring Kurds - ummm, those same Kurds in northern Iraq that helped U.S. troops battle al Qaeda. Got it?

I'd like to just remind everyone that Barack Hussein Obama was also lightning quick in removing the missile defense initiative from our ally, Poland, but has done nothing to remove nuclear weapon development from islamic Iran.

I'm starting to think that Barack Hussein Obama likes these islamic terrorist nations more than our tried and true decades old allies....how about you?

US Takes Sides with Turkey on Kurdish Struggle


The United States is taking sides with Turkey on the issue of the Kurdish struggle for freedom.

Kurdish rebels blew up a military bus in Istanbul on Wednesday, killing four people in a daring attack likely to intensify the conflict between Turkish occupation forces and Kurdish resistance fighters. The attack came in the wake of a violent weekend in which 12 Turkish soldiers and policemen were killed by Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) guerrillas, who have recently stepped up resistance efforts in areas of northern Kurdistan currently occupied by Turkey.

In addition to responding with harsh military operations against the Kurds, Turkey has attempted to deflect blame for the violence from its occupation of Kurdistan to Israeli intrigue in the region. Turkish sources told the Jordanian daily al-Majd on Monday that its security forces are investigating a Mossad connection to the PKK attacks on a Turkish airbase that took place on May 31. Israel denies any involvement.

The sources further claimed that the Turkish security apparatuses had recently thwarted an assassination attempt on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan by Mossad-connected Kurdish rebels.

The Qatari daily al-Sharq also reported on Wednesday that media elements in Turkey were attempting to link the upsurge in PKK attacks to Turkey's anti-Israel positions on the Gaza blockade and on Iran's nuclear ambitions.

US Supports Turkish Anti-Kurd Efforts
The United States ambassador to Turkey, meanwhile, released a statement earlier this week that America supports Turkey's efforts to clamp down on Kurdish resistance fighters and is ready to "urgently" consider any new request for help from Ankara. "We stand ready to review urgently any new requests from the Turkish military or government regarding the PKK," Ambassador James Jeffrey said in a written statement on Monday.

"The PKK is a common enemy of both Turkey and the U.S. and we actively support the efforts of our Turkish allies to defeat this terrorist threat," Jeffrey said, stressing that "there has been no change in the level of U.S.-Turkey intelligence sharing regarding the PKK in northern Iraq."

The United States has reportedly been supplying Turkey, a NATO ally, with intelligence on rebel movements in northern Iraq, used particularly in Turkish air raids on PKK hideouts and Kurdish civilian areas in the region.

Israel and the Kurds
The Kurds - whose country is currently occupied by Iraq, Turkey, Iran and Syria - are a non-Arab Middle Eastern nation who generally hold pro-Israel views. During the reign of Saddam Hussein, who killed over 5000 Kurds in poison gas attacks, Israel helped the Kurds in their battle for independence from Iraq.

Since 1984, the PKK has been engaged in a war of liberation for the mainly Kurdish-populated territories that make up the north of historic Kurdistan but currently exist as Turkey’s southeast. The war for Kurdish independence has since claimed roughly 45,000 lives, with Kurds making up the vast majority of casualties.


They Weren't Invented in the 1960's
"Every time Syria, Turkey, Iran or Iraq - and now America too - talk about the 'occupation' of Palestinians, we should be throwing the Kurdistan issue in their faces," said Israeli activist Benny Katz. "The Kurds weren't invented, as the Palestinians were, in the 1960's. They are an ancient nation deserving of their homeland.

The PKK has demanded an end to all discrimination in Turkish laws against ethnic Kurds, hoping instead to be granted full political freedoms. The party has also demanded Turkey’s recognition of the Kurds’ identity in its constitution and of their language as a native language along with Turkish in Kurdish populated areas. Most Kurds currently living under Turkish occupation openly sympathize with the PKK despite it being considered a ‘terrorist’ organization by both Ankara and Washington.

Kurds In Northern Iraq Honor the Deaths and Sacrifices of American Soldiers In Iraq War

I gotta admit, I got a little choked up when I read this earlier today. I think most of you know how I feel about our troops and how damn proud I am of what they did and do in Iraq. Well, I never expected a single Iraqi to ever even think about a formal "thank you" to our troops let alone a memorial - hell, our troops can't even get that from an American Democrat.

But read this, from MEMRI:

Kurdish members of the police force held a memorial for 13 U.S. soldiers killed in the city while helping maintain peace and security.
In a message read at the memorial, President Talabani wrote: "The American soldiers killed are martyrs and our people will never forget them. We will erect statues for them in important locations."

I ask you, is that awesome or what?!!!

I think most American soldiers and Marines that have served in Iraq will say that the Kurds are a formidable fighting group - let's face it, there weren't many areas of the Kurdish region of Iraq that al Qaeda actually dared even enter. Yes, there was blood shed and also American blood and all I can say, as an American ....I cannot express my gratitude enough to the Kurds in Iraq for this memorial to our troops who gave their lives so the Kurds could be free. To those people, I would also like to state: You have no idea what this will mean to the families of those American troops who breathed their last on your soil...Thank you.

Kurds in Kirkuk Hold Memorial for U.S. Soldiers Killed in the City – They Are Considered Martyrs


Kurdish members of the police force held a memorial for 13 U.S. soldiers killed in the city while helping maintain peace and security.
In a message read at the memorial, President Talabani wrote: "The American soldiers killed are martyrs and our people will never forget them. We will erect statues for them in important locations."

Turkey Launches Ground Assault INSIDE Iraq

Man, this is NOT good. For the first time (confirmed), Turkey has sent troops across the Iraqi border into Iraq to go after Kurdish rebels. Now, as serious as this is, it certainly can't be surprising. The U.S. and Iraq have done nothing to protest any of the air assault on the Kurds by Turkey to this point. I've seen it play out - the Turks have become more aggressive each time, testing the international waters and every time, they have not even received a handslap. So this time they are taking an even bigger step and it is my view, that THIS time, the U.S. and Iraq have to draw the line.
Now, I have no love lost for the PKK (Kurdish rebels) but at the same time, for Turkish troops to be in Iraq is insane! We have to realize that the Turks HATE the Kurds and vice versa. Let me ask how Turks being in Iraq is any different than Iranians being in Iraq? Or Syrians being in Iraq?
Unless I have missed it, I have not seen a single attack by PKK factions inside of Turkey for over a month - yet Turkey is on the ground inside of Iraq? Like I said, this is not good.

Full story from Breitbart is here.

Turkey Launches Ground Operation in Iraq

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) - Turkish troops launched a ground incursion across the border into Iraq in pursuit of separatist Kurdish rebels, the military said Friday—a move that dramatically escalates Turkey's conflict with the militants.
It is the first confirmed ground operation by the Turkish military into Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. It also raised concerns that it could trigger a wider conflict with the U.S.-backed Iraqi Kurds, despite Turkey's assurances that its only target was the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.
The ground operation started after Turkish warplanes and artillery bombed suspected rebel targets on Thursday, the military said on its Web site. The incursion was backed by the Air Force, the statement said.
Turkey has conducted air raids against the PKK guerrillas in northern Iraq since December, with the help of U.S. intelligence, and it has periodically carried out so-called "hot pursuits" in which small units sometimes spend only a few hours inside Iraq.
The announcement of a cross-border, ground incursion of a type that Turkey carried out before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 was a major development in its conflict with the Kurdish rebels, which started in 1984 and has claimed as many as 40,000 lives.
Turkey staged about two-dozen incursions in Iraq during the rule of Saddam, who launched brutal campaigns against the Kurdish population. Some Turkish offensives involved tens of thousands of troops. Results were mixed, with rebels suffering blows to their ranks and supplies but regrouping after the bulk of the Turkish forces had left.
PKK spokesman Ahmad Danas said two Turkish troops were killed and eight wounded in clashes along the 240-mile border, but there was no comment from the Turkish military and no way to independently confirm the claim.

Explosion In Istanbul, Turkey...Just The Start?

This was to be expected. With Turkey attacking over 200 targets inside Kurdish Iraq over the past week, it was just a matter of time that the PKK (Kurdish rebels) would start the retaliation. I've said from the start that this was not going to be pretty, in that Turkey has been building up for this opportunity for a long time. And with the U.S. and Iraqi's basically turning their heads to the Turkish attacks, the PKK will see attacks inside of Turkey as its only hope.
At some point in time, the Kurdish leaders in Iraq are going to put their foot down and believe me, none of us wants to see Kurdish Iraqi militias going up against Turkish troops.

The news on this bombing is lean but here's a short blurb.

Explosion In Istanbul - Authorities Say A Bomb Caused The Explosion

ISTANBUL - Authorities said a bomb caused the explosion which occurred earlier Tuesday evening in Istanbul`s Kucukcekmece district.
A blast went off in a trash can, injuring two people, who were identified as Fatma and Ummu Agdemir.
The injured were rushed to nearby hospitals and police investigation was underway to identify the type of the explosive.

Turkey Sends TROOPS Into Northern Iraq

Okay, maybe I'm the only one worried about this whole thing, but it seems to me the Turks have been itching for years now to confront the Kurds in Northern Iraq. Sure, they say they are after the PKK rebels but to me, that's a smokescreen. The Turks conducted air raids the other day and instead of some objections from Iraq and the West, they basically heard nothing (some reports are that the U.S. opened up air space for the operation) so enboldened, now they send troops into Iraq some 1.5 miles.

If this troop movement of 1.5 miles receives the cricket treatment again, then loook for the Turks to send in wave after wave deeper into Kurd territory. Let's face it, the rebels weren't going to be sitting 500 feet inside the border, now were they?

My concern is this. If one, just one Kurd civilian gets killed in one of these operations, it is going to be a nightmare, and as for the U.S. , we better not take for granted the staunch support our troops have received in Iraq from the Kurds. It's time to tell Turkey to back off. And the time is NOW.

Full story is here from AP.

Dec 18, 7:15 AM EST
Turkish Army Sends Soldiers Into Iraq
By YAHYA BARZANJI Associated Press Writer

KIRKUK, Iraq (AP) -- The Turkish army sent soldiers about 1.5 miles into northern Iraq in an overnight operation on Tuesday, Kurdish officials said. A Turkish official said the troops seeking Kurdish rebels were still in Iraq by midmorning.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made an unannounced visit to Kirkuk, the hub of Iraq's northern oil fields.
The troops crossed into an area near the border with Iran, about 75 miles north of the city of Irbil, said Jabar Yawar, a spokesman for Kurdistan's Peshmerga security forces.
About 300 Turkish troops crossed the border at 3 a.m., said Jamal Abdullah, a spokesman for the regional Kurdistan government. He said the region was a deserted mountainous frontier area.
The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad declined to comment on reports of the Turkish operation.

It was not clear how long the Turkish soldiers who entered Iraq on Tuesday would stay, but a Turkish government official said they were sent as "reinforcements" to existing Turkish troops stationed further inside Iraq.
"They are going there as reinforcements, they are not returning," the official said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media.