Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA:
"The separatist group has been fighting to establish an autonomous state, or possibly a new world country, in the area after separating Kurdish regions from Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Syria."
Wait a minute. Mahmoud Abbas told the world that the absolutely only people under "occupation" were the Palestinians. The Kurds go back as an identifiable group to medieval times. They were annexed into the OttomanEmpire in 1514 and have been under so me form of occupation ever since. ]
Iran, Turkey to Collaborate against Kurdish Terrorists
News number: 9007270199 17:11 | 2011-10-21
TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran and Turkey vowed Friday to collaborate in their fight against Kurdish militancy, as thousands of Turkish troops pressed ahead with an air and ground offensive against the terrorists in Northern Iraq for a third day.
The foreign ministers of Iran and Turkey announced plans to cooperate against terrorists of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, and its Iranian wing, the Party of Free Lif e of Kurdistan, or PJAK, during a joint news conference in Ankara. Both groups, labeled terrorist organizations by the international community even the United States, have been fighting for Kurdish autonomy in their respective countries.
"Our joint determination to struggle against the PKK and the PJAK will continue in the strongest way," Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said.
"From now on, we will work together in a joint action plan until this terrorist threat is totally eliminated."
Turkey launched a cross-border offensive against the Kurdish terrorists' hideouts
in Iraq on Wednesday after 24 soldiers were killed by the rebels near the border town of Cukurca.
It was the deadliest one-day toll against the military since the mid-1990s.
Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi lamented that the deaths of Turkish soldiers might have been avoided if the United States had informed Turkey that the rebels were infiltrating into Turkey with heavy weaponry.
The US allegedly shares intelligence from surveillance drones with Turkey about
movement of Kurdish rebels along the border.
Salehi said the PKK and PJAK were "common problems" for both countries.
"We need to cooperate more seriously against them," Salehi said.
It was not immediately clear what measures the two countries are planning to take against the Kurdish terrorists, who have their main base on Qandil Mountain that sits on the Iraqi-Iranian border.
Two weeks ago, office of Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki announced that
Baghdad and Tehran have established a joint security committee to fight the
Iraq-based terrorist PJAK group.
"The Iraqi prime minister in a meeting with a number of reporters from foreign channels has said that Iran and Iraq have set up a joint security committee to fight the PJAK grouplet and its forces at Iraq's Northern borders," a statement released by Maliki's information office said on October 11.
According to the statement, Maliki also underlined the friendly relations between Iran and Iraq, and said during the meeting with the foreign reporters that "we do not allow any terrorist group to settle on Iraq's soil and they will not be allowed to act against the neighbors of Iraq."
No other details were released on the meeting or on Iran-Baghdad cooperation
against the terrorist group.
The new round of clashes between the PJAK terrorists and Iran started in July after Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) arrested several teams of PJAK, who intended to infiltrate Iran to stage terrorist operations in the country.
In response, Iran deployed about 5,000 military forces in the Northwestern
parts of the country along its joint border with the Iraqi Kurdistan region.
During the operations, the IRGC forces killed, injured and arrested tens of
terrorists and destroyed their headquarters in the bordering areas of Alvatan near Sardasht city in Northwestern Iran.
Finally early in October, IRGC Commander Major General Mohammad Ali Jaffari
had said Iranian forces are in full control over the country's borders in the Northwest after they repelled the threat of the PJAK terrorist group completely.
Speaking to FNA, Jaffari said PJAK terrorists imagined that Iranian forces are, at maximum, as good as the Turkish army in classic warfare and could never defeat partisans.
"But, the IRGC's capability in both classic and asymmetric and guerrilla warfare surprised the PJAK terrorist group so much that they surrendered,"he added.
PJAK, a militant Kurdish nationalist group with bases in the mountainous regions of Northern Iraq, has been carrying out numerous attacks in Western Iran, Southern Turkey and the Northeastern parts of Syria where Kurdish populations live.
The separatist group has been fighting to establish an autonomous state, orpossibly a new world country, in the area after separating Kurdish regions from Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Syria.
Iranian intelligence and security officials have repeatedly complained that Washington provides military support and logistical aids for such anti-Iran
terrorist groups.
Turkish warplanes on Friday flew several bombing sorties against Qandil as well as terrorist camps along the Iraqi border in Zap and Hakurk regions, the state-run TRT television said.
The terrorists reportedly rush into deep caves when they hear the whistling shells or the roar of the jets. And a ground offensive against Qandil is deemed highly risky and difficult since the area is allegedly heavily mined.
About 10,000 Turkish troops were pursuing Kurdish terrorists in Southeastern
Turkey and across the border in Iraq. The number of troops that crossed into
Iraq was not clear.
"The air and ground offensives mostly concentrate within Turkey and in Cukurca area, while air and ground operations are underway in a few areas across the border in Northern Iraq," the Turkish military said in a statement Friday.
Turkey has launched more than two dozen air and ground incursions into Northern Iraq over the 27 years of the insurgency, with mixed results.
Therebels have returned to positions along the border soon after the troops have withdrawn. The current offensive was the largest attack on the insurgents in more than three years.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the current offensive sought "results."
"I can say that one of the most comprehensive operations is being carried out," Interior Minister Idris Naim Sahin told NTV television Friday.
The military said the current operation includes commandos, special forces and paramilitary special forces - elite forces trained in guerrilla warfare.
They are being reinforced by F-16 and F-4 warplanes, Super Cobra helicopter
gunships and surveillance drones.
The Sabah newspaper, without citing sources, said the troops had penetrated
as deep as 15 miles (25 kilometers) into Iraq.
The military would not share operational details.
Iraq on Thursday promised to stop the rebels from using Iraqi territory for future attacks against Turkey. It was not clear if Iraqi Kurdish forces will again assist Turkish troops against the Turkish Kurdish rebels as they did in the early 1990s.
The Kurdish rebel attack has fueled strong nationalist sentiment in Turkey.
Tens of thousands of people, including high school students, took to the streets in protest Thursday, calling for tougher action against the rebels.
Turkey's conflict with the Kurdish rebels has killed tens of thousands of people since the insurgents took up arms to fight for autonomy in thecountr y's Kurdish-dominated southeast in 1984.
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IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
Website: www.imra.org.il
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