Turkish F-16s Strike PKK Terrorists in Northern Iraq

Turkish F-16s have struck the Kurdistan Worker's Party's (PKK) bases in Northern Iraq on Wednesday and Thursday. Poligazette explains that "PKK members carry out attacks against Turkish targets in Turkey after which they quickly run back to northern Iraq where they hide."

It's true, the war on terror does not just involve Al Qaeda, but hundreds of terrorist organizations. Terrorists are not just Muslims, Arabs, or Iranians. There are religious, ideological (usually Marxist like the PKK), nationalist (like the PKK), and many other kinds of terrorists.

The Iraqi government had promised to take care of the PKK terrorists as recognized by the US, EU, and many other nations worldwide; however, the Iraqi government has made almost no progress. The reason is perhaps that the leadership of the Iraqi government who are of Kurdish descent feel sympathetic to the PKK's cause.

Just like Hamas firing rockets from civilian areas, the PKK plants bombs in civilian areas (killing even US citizens) and sometimes raids villages (even killing Kurds) and border police stations and escape back into Iraq. The hit and run tactics of the PKK forced Turkey to strike Northern Iraq last year and this year.

The Turkish air force is one of the oldest air forces in existence established in 1909. It is the 2nd largest air force in NATO and the 4th largest in the world with over 900 aircraft. It's capable of traveling around the world to attend war games with their in-flight fueling capabilities. However, terrorism is not easy to defeat and the PKK has been in existence since 1984 and has continued to wage war.

They had a period of cease fire when Turkey captured their leader and put him in prison (the 'bin laden' of the PKK). Surprisingly, they did not execute him--perhaps to avoid making him a martyr of his cause.

PKK's stated goal is to create a country named Kurdistan (with territory from Iran, Iraq, and Turkey). And sympathetic apologists support their cause, some even sell them weapons. There are others that allow the PKK to transmit their propaganda through television such as Roj TV that transmits from Denmark. Denmark seems to be careless when it comes to the war on terror.

The people who claim "minority rights" for Kurds in Turkey have absolutely no idea what is going on there. They are ignorant to the fact that one of the most famous and richest singers in Turkey is openly Kurdish. Turkish national television has a government channel that has Kurdish language programs. They even have a political party in Turkey. Kurds who live in Turkey also have Turkish passports and citizenship (even some PKK members do).

The irony of course, is the embarrassment of a prime minister called Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who just recently, shamefully criticized Israel for doing exactly what Turkey is doing. Most educated Turks became very upset and embarrassed by the childish behavior of Prime Minister Erdogan at Davos. As a leader of the Islamist party AKP in Turkey that has captured the majority in Parliament, the prime ministry, and the presidency--they have very little opposition because of the growing Islamist movement in Turkey. However, just like a pendulum, the secularists will regain the government and Israeli-Turkish relations will be restored--secular order will return.

Prime Minister Erdogan has lately been engaging in fascism by arresting a large number of members of an alleged 'terror group' accused of planning a coup but many of them aren't even terrorists--they are journalists, businessmen, and academics who have one thing in common: They don't like Islamists or the AKP and they uphold the teachings of the founding father of Turkey, Ataturk. The end is near for Erdogan and maybe even his party, but it is too soon to tell.

Regardless, it is good that he is taking action against the PKK, but hypocritical of him to criticize Israel.