The head of Turkey’s military has said Ankara should launch a military operation in northern Iraq to target Kurdish guerrillas based there.

The military asked the government Thursday to approve attacks on Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq, signaling growing frustration over a lack of action against the guerrillas by Iraqi and U.S. forces. It is feared that action could put pressure on U.S. military, which already is engage in Iraq and Afganistan.

Turkey and Kurd are both have good relation with US and if the situation becomes tense then it will not benefit the US. It is reported that Gen Yasar Buyukanit, chief of Turkey’s general staff, urged the government to approve a cross-border incursion.
But the Turkish government is not willing to act in a hurry and want to consider military action only as a last resort. Turkish government fears that it could spark a mutiny from dozens of Kurdish lawmakers within Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s own party ahead of elections in November. Ankara is considering economical and political sanctions on Kurds to secure Iraq’s cooperation in the fight against the Iraq-based Kurdish rebels.

It is to be noted that Turkey has been battling separatist Kurdish rebels in southeastern Turkey since 1984 and resulting conflict has killed more than 37,000 people.
The United States considers Turkey as a strategic ally and country is a member of NATO and US cannot ignore Turkey strategic importance in southern Europe and Gulf. But some Turks now started questioning their country’s ties with Washington if US refuses to side with them against the Kurdish rebels.

More than 30,000 people have been killed since the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) launched its armed struggle for a separate Kurdish homeland in southeast Turkey in 1984. US, the European Union and Turkey consider the PKK as a “terrorist organization”.

Via: msnbc.msn.com