Tomorrow going to be a clunker for the markets
Between this and AMZN and some other disappointments. a 275-300 drop looks doable
A much better payday
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Turkey Says Military Raid on Iraq May Come Any Time (Update4)
By Mark Bentley and Ben Holland
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Oct. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Turkey may order a military incursion into Iraq ``at any time'' and halt exports to the country, as tens of thousands of Turks joined funerals for soldiers killed near the border.
U.S.-led forces in Iraq should crack down on militants from the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, without delay or Turkey will be forced to act, Erdogan said at a news conference in London today with U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
``The Iraqi government should know that we can use the power vested in us to conduct a cross-border operation at any time,'' Erdogan said. ``The time has come'' for the U.S. to move against the PKK, he said.
Turkey is stepping up pressure on the U.S. and Iraq to deal with the PKK after a dozen of its soldiers died in fighting near the border with Iraq over the past two days. Eight others are missing. Erdogan said late yesterday that Turkey may wait ``a few days'' before carrying out an attack.
While President George W. Bush is urging restraint, the U.S. is considering ways to assist Turkey in battling against the PKK, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.
``Actionable intelligence is something that we can provide,'' she said today at a briefing a briefing in Washington. She didn't elaborate.
Question of Air Strikes
The Chicago Tribune, citing unnamed administration officials, reported today that the administration is considering bombing PKK bases. Perino said she was ``not aware of any American support for an air strike,''
Oil prices for December delivery rose for the first day in three, increasing as much as 0.9 percent to $86.79 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange as Turkey considered military action. Prices rose to a record above $90 last week on concern an invasion would hurt regional stability and disrupt supplies.
Erdogan said Turkey may halt exports to its neighbor to persuade Iraq to act against the PKK, which is designated as a terrorist group by the U.S. and European Union.
Turkey is an important supplier of energy, water and household goods to Iraq, Erdogan said in a speech to investors in London without saying what exports Turkey might stop.
Iraq will close down the PKK's offices in Iraq as part of measures to combat the group, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al- Maliki said today, according to the CNN Turk television. Turkey has called on Iraq to arrest the PKK's leaders and dismantle their camps to avoid a military incursion.
Public Anger
In nationwide demonstrations over the past three days, Turkish citizens have pressed their government to begin an immediate military assault on the Kurdish militants in Iraq.
Tens of thousands of people attended funerals for the 12 soldiers in towns and cities across Turkey today, waving national flags of red and white and chanting anti-PKK slogans.
The pro-Kurdish Firat news agency published photos on its Web site today that it says depict the eight captured soldiers. The pictures show the troops are in ``good health,'' the agency said.
Turkey blames the PKK for the deaths of almost 40,000 people in a two-decade conflict. The militants are seeking an independent homeland for Turkey's 12 million Kurds. There are about 3,500 PKK fighters in the Kurdish region of Iraq.
Brown urged that diplomatic efforts to continue, saying he's working with Turkey, the U.S. and the government of Iraq for a political solution to the dispute with Kurdish guerrillas.
Condemnation
Britain ``condemns absolutely and unequivocally'' the terrorist violence of the PKK and calls on the Iraqi government to ``step up all measures that are necessary so that terrorists cannot move from Iraq,'' Brown said.
A Turkish assault into northern Iraq won't necessarily mean sending in ground forces, Erdogan said late yesterday. Turkey's military was strafing the border area with artillery fire and missiles from F-16 jet fighters yesterday, the Sabah newspaper said.
Military force against the PKK should only be used as a last resort, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said. He made the comments at a news conference in Baghdad after talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan.
Military Operation
Turkey has invited the U.S. to join a military operation against the PKK, Turkey's Hurriyet newspaper cited Erdogan as saying. ``We expect to work together, just as we do in Afghanistan,'' he said.
Bush, in a telephone call with Turkish President Abdullah Gul, expressed his ``deep concern'' about the PKK's attacks and promised the U.S. will cooperate in clamping down on the militants operating out of Iraq, administration spokesman Gordon Johndroe said late yesterday.
The Iraqi government, along with the Kurdish administration governing northern Iraq, should ``exert every possible effort'' to stop PKK attacks on Turkey from Iraq, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said today in Washington. ``This is an area in the north where the Kurdish regional government has a number of forces,'' he told reporters.
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, has rejected a call by the Turkish government to arrest the PKK's leaders in Iraq and hand them over to Turkey, saying Iraqi forces aren't capable of dealing with the group.
To contact the reporters on this story: Mark Bentley in Ankara at mbentley3@bloomberg.net ; Ben Holland in London at bholland1@bloomberg.net .
Last Updated: October 23, 2007 15:31 EDT |
