Turkey, Iraq, Kurdistan, the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) and the U.S.

gee, why wait for a war with iran...? if you're looking for a tinderbox to ignite, here's one handed to you on a silver platter...

juan cole...

The Bush administration made a diplomatic 'full court press' with Turkish leaders to dissuade them from attacking the Kurdish Workers Party [PKK] guerrillas hiding out in Iraq after the killing of 17 Turkish troops and the capture of 8 others by the PKK on Sunday. Turkish Prime Minister Rejeb Tayyip Erdogan is alleged to have told US Secretary of State Condi Rice that the only way for the US to forestall a Turkish invasion is for its military to arrest the PKK leaders in Iraq themselves and to turn them over to Ankara.

Under all this American pressure, The PKK is said to be offering a conditional ceasefire with Ankara. The 'conditional' part doesn't seem very promising to me.

the "conditional" part evidently didn't seem very promising to turkey either...

BAGHDAD, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan on Tuesday rejected the ceasefire offered by the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), saying there's no "ceasefire" with terror.

Babacan made the remarks at a joint press conference with his Iraqi counterpart Hoshyar Zebari after their talks over the crisis on the two countries' borders caused by the PKK rebels.

Babacan said a ceasefire should be reached between two countries or two armies but not with a terror group, which apparently indicates the PKK.

But the Turkish top diplomat pledged Turkey's respect to Iraq's integrity, saying the diplomatic means are still the emphasis of the solutions for the crisis.

On his part, Zebari pledged his Turkish counterpart again that Iraqi government will actively help Turkey to remove the threat posed by the PKK.

anybody got a match...?

[UPDATE]

so, now it's not only explosive, it's explosive²...

[O]ut of the public eye, a chillingly similar battle has been under way on the Iraqi border with Iran. Kurdish guerrillas ambush and kill Iranian forces and retreat to their hide-outs in Iraq. The Americans offer Iran little sympathy. Tehran even says Washington aids the Iranian guerrillas, a charge the United States denies. True or not, that conflict, like the Turkish one, has explosive potential.

hey, i bet darth's got a match...

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