NOVANEWS
Kurdish guerillas armed with rocket launchers attack police station in town of Pervari in southeastern Turkey.
Reuters
Kurdish guerrillas armed with rocket launchers attacked a police station in southeastern Turkey on Saturday, killing five police officers and wounding nine in a clash in which three rebels were also killed, security sources said.
They said the attack took place in the town of Pervari in the southeastern province of Siirt and fighting was still under way.
It was staged at a time of heightened tension between Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) rebels and the Turkish military, which has launched air strikes and artillery raids against
suspected PKK bases in northern Iraq in retaliation for a recent spate of militant attacks inside Turkey.
Turkey has threatened to carry out an incursion into northern Iraq to attack PKK bases there, despite opposition from Iraq’s regional Kurdish government.
Earlier this month, Turkish Interior Minister Idris Naim Sahin said Turkey was preparing a possible ground operation in northern Iraq, depending on the result of talks with Iraq.
After a clear victory in a June election, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan vowed to press ahead with legal reforms addressing the 12-million-strong Kurdish minority’s grievances.
But a wave of PKK attacks have raised the possibility of a return to a hardline government stance in the 27-year-old fight against the rebels, with Erdogan recently warning he had lost patience with the PKK.
The PKK, branded a terrorist group by Ankara, Washington and the European Union, took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984 to fight for Kurdish autonomy. More than 40,000 people have died in the separatist insurgency.
related–Israel to ‘punish’ Turkey by arming PKK rebels
Jerusalem fights back: Foreign Minister Lieberman formulates series of tough moves in response to Turkish steps; Israel to cooperate with Armenian lobby in US, may offer military aid to Kurdish rebels
ynet
Jerusalem to punish Erdogan: Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has decided to adopt a series of harsh measures in response to Turkey’s latest anti-Israeli moves, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Friday.
Senior Foreign Ministry officials convened Thursday to prepare for a meeting to be held Saturday with Lieberman on the matter. Saturday’s session will be dedicated to discussing Israel’s response to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent threats and his decision to downgrade Ankara’s diplomatic ties with Jerusalem.
Following Thursday’s meeting, officials assessed that Turkey is not interested in an Israeli apology at this time and prefers to exploit the dispute with Jerusalem in order to promote Ankara’s status in the Muslim world. Lieberman therefore decided there was no point in seeking creative formulas for apologizing, instead choosing to focus Israel’s efforts on punishing Turkey.
The Foreign Ministry has now decided to proceed with the formulation of a diplomatic and security “toolbox” to be used against the Turks. The first move would be to issue a travel warning urging all Israeli military veterans to refrain from traveling to Turkey. The advisory will be especially harsh as it will also urge Israelis to refrain from boarding connections in Turkey.
Another planned Israeli move is the facilitation of cooperation with Turkey’s historic rivals, the Armenians. During Lieberman’s visit to the United States this month, the foreign minister is expected to meet with leaders of the Armenian lobby and propose anti-Turkish cooperation in Congress.
The implication of this move could be Israeli assistance in promoting international recognition of the Armenian holocaust, a measure that would gravely harm Turkey. Israel may also back Armenia in its dispute vis-à-vis Turkey over control of Mount Ararat.
‘Turkey better show respect’
Lieberman is also planning to set meetings with the heads of Kurdish rebel group PKK in Europe in order to “cooperate with them and boost them in every possible area.” In these meetings, the Kurds may ask Israel for military aid in the form of training and arms supplies, a move that would constitute a major anti-Turkish position should it materialize.
However, the violent clashes between Turkey and the Kurds only constitute one reason prompting accusations that Ankara is violating human rights. Hence, another means in Lieberman’s “toolbox” vis-à-vis Erdogan is a diplomatic campaign where Israeli missions worldwide will be instructed to join the fight and report illegal Turkish moves against minorities.
The tough response formulated by Lieberman stems, among other things, from the foreign minister’s desire to make it clear to Erdogan that his anti-Israeli moves are not a “one-way street.”
Officials in Jerusalem also noted that Turkey’s global status at this time is not promising as it is, adding that Ankara is embroiled in tensions vis-à-vis NATO and Greece, while Erdogan’s relations with Syria and Iran are also not favorable.
“We’ll exact a price from Erdogan that will prove to him that messing with Israel doesn’t pay off,” Lieberman said. “Turkey better treat us with respect and common decency.”
