turkey votes to invade iraq watch oil

Turkey's Parliament has resoundingly approved a motion allowing troops to cross into northern Iraq to hunt down Kurdish rebels there.

More than 500 members of Turkey's Parliament approved the motion that authorises Turkish troops to target the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters there.


The vote was taken in defiance of pressure from the US and Iraq, which have called on Turkey for restraint.
Turkey's Western allies and Baghdad have urged Turkey to refrain from military action.

As the Turkish Parliament voted in Ankara, the US President, George W. Bush, said it would not be in Turkey's interests to send troops into Iraq.

Washington fears a Turkish incursion could destabilise the most peaceful part of Iraq and possibly the wider region by encouraging others such as Iran, to intervene.

Iraq's Government says it will send a team to Ankara for further talks to find a peaceful solution to the crisis.

NATO and the European Union have also urged restraint, warning that military action by Turkey threatens to bring chaos to the only relatively stable region of Iraq.

The Turkish Prime Minister, Tayyip Erdogan, has played down expectations of any imminent attack.

But he says Turkey needs to be able to respond to a recent rise in bomb attacks blamed on PKK rebels from Iraq.

The Turkish Parliament vote reflects huge public support for military action against the PKK following a series of deadly attacks in recent weeks.

Dave R.