Turkey has broad implications for the entire region. The Turks have had a Kurdish problem for some time and have accused the PKK of using the Kurdish controlled Northern Iraq to attack elements within Turkey.
Here is the dilemma. The Kurds are the strongest allies the Us has in the area. If Turkey were to attack into Iraq and destabilize this area it would cause all kinds of headaches for the US:
Rumors are floating in Washington and elsewhere that Turkey is preparing to move against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), an anti-Turkish group seeking an independent Kurdistan in Turkey. One report, by Robert Novak in the Washington Post, says the United States is planning to collaborate with Turkey in suppressing the PKK in northern Iraq, an area the PKK has used as a safe-haven and launch pad to carry out attacks in Turkey.
The broader issue is not the PKK, but Kurdish independence. The Kurds are a distinct ethnic group divided among Turkey, Iran, Iraq and, to a small extent, Syria. The one thing all of these countries have agreed on historically is they have no desire to see an independent Kurdistan. Even though each has, on occasion, used Kurdish dissidents in other countries as levers against those countries, there always has been a regional consensus against a Kurdish state. Read More.
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