Turkish Invasion of Iraq February 2008
The Turkish invasion of Iraq in February 2008 marked a significant military action taken by Turkey against Kurdish nationalist guerrillas, specifically targeting the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). On February 21, around 10,000 Turkish soldiers crossed into northwestern Iraq, approximately six to nine miles into the territory, in pursuit of PKK militants, who had increased their attacks in southeastern Turkey. This operation, the first large-scale ground invasion by Turkey in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, aimed to cripple the PKK's capabilities before a potential spring offensive.
The incursion drew immediate international attention, particularly from the United States, which urged Turkey to keep the operation brief to avoid escalating tensions between two allied nations in a sensitive region. Following these calls, Turkey withdrew its troops after one week, asserting that the timing was independent of U.S. pressure. The invasion was rooted in a complex history of Kurdish nationalism and Turkish opposition, as the PKK has sought greater autonomy and rights for the Kurdish population across Turkey, Iraq, and Iran.
This military action occurred amid ongoing conflicts and negotiations regarding Kurdish autonomy and the delicate balance of power in Iraq, where the semi-autonomous Kurdish region has operated independently since the fall of Saddam Hussein. The situation highlighted the intricate dynamics among Turkey, Iraq, the Kurdish population, and international stakeholders, notably the U.S.
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Turkish Invasion of Iraq February 2008
Summary: Turkey sent a force of up to 10,000 soldiers into Iraqi territory in search of Kurdish nationalist guerrillas on February 21, 2008. Turkey said a week later that it had withdrawn its troops. Turkey was aiming to strike a blow against guerrillas of the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) that have staged repeated raids into southeastern Turkey in pursuit of an independent Kurdish homeland. The Turkish action was the first large-scale incursion by Turkish troops into Iraq since the 2003 American invasion of Iraq and created immediate tensions between two countries in which the United States had a large military presence. American officials, including President George Bush and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, called on the Turks to make their incursion brief. Shortly after those calls, Turkey withdrew its troops but insisted the timing was not in response to the American statements.
Date: February 21-29, 2008.
Place: Northwestern Iraq's border with Turkey ("Kurdistan")
Incident: A large continent of Turkish soldiers, which news reports said could number up to 10,000, penetrated six to nine miles inside Iraq in search of rebels from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Turkey said it withdrew its troops a week later.
Context: The invasion followed more than two months of periodic bomb attacks by Turkey against PKK strongholds in the region. It was the first confirmed large-scale ground invasion of Iraqi territory by Turkish forces since the American invasion of Iraq in 2003. Turkey previously had sent small patrols into northern Iraq and had bombed suspected Kurdish rebel positions there. Turkey's withdrawal followed calls by President George W. Bush and Defense Secretary Robert Gates to make the invasion brief. Turkey is a close military ally of the United States, although the rise of Islamist politicians in recent years has created prospective strains.
Impact: Turkey's troop withdrawal after one week avoided a serious clash between two American allies in the volatile region. Turkey's military insisted that calls by the Bush administration to limit its presence in Iraq were not responsible for its decision to withdraw after a week. Such pressure could serve to alienate a staunch American ally at a time when the influence of Islamist parties in Turkey is growing. The United States has long provided intelligence data about the Kurdish region to Turkey.
The Incident. On the evening of February 21, 2008, several thousand Turkish troops crossed the border into the Kurdish region of Iraq. Although incursions by much smaller forces had been reported earlier, the invasion by a reported 10,000 troops six to nine miles inside Iraq was the first such large-scale ground attack by Turkey inside Iraq since the 2003 United States invasion that overthrew Saddam Hussein.
Turkey's invasion was evidently timed to prevent a spring offensive by the Kurdish Workers' Party (known by its Kurdish initials, PKK) that for decades has fought for a Kurdish national homeland in southeast Turkey, northern Iraq, and northwest Iran. Reports said that heavy snow in the mountainous region had hampered both sides.
Claims of casualties by the Turkish military and by Kurdish rebels could not be independently confirmed. The Turkish military said 24 of its soldiers were killed and that it had killed up to 243 Kurdish fighters. The PKK said it lost five fighters and had killed 130 Turks.
Players. The Turkish action affected five separate parties with overlapping interests in the region:
- Turkey. The government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan came under increasing domestic political pressure from both the military and parliament to act against the PKK after repeated attacks in October killed at least three dozen Turkish soldiers. The Turkish parliament voted 507-19 to authorize sending the military into Iraq in search of PKK guerrillas. Prime Minister Erdogan delayed doing so after US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice intervened personally. A month earlier, in September 2007, Turkey and Iraq negotiated an agreement to cooperate in controlling the PKK attacks. The agreement specifically barred a Turkish incursion into Iraqi territory.
Since 1984, the PKK has waged a war initially aimed at establishing an independent Kurdish state including parts of Turkey, Iraq, and Iran, and later at establishing a semi-autonomous Kurdish region in southeastern Turkey. Operating from bases in the mountains of northern Iraq, the PKK is blamed for dozens of deaths of Turkish soldiers and police in an area occupied by Kurds, whom Turkey officially refers to as "mountain Turks."
- Iraq. A week after it started, the Iraqi government said the invasion was "unacceptable" and called on Turkey to withdraw its troops. The subdued reaction by Iraq indicated the government's inability to take any practical steps to prevent the incursion. Officials from both governments had met repeatedly in the months before the attack.
- Kurdistan. The part of northern Iraq occupied by ethnic Kurds has operated autonomously since the American invasion. It has been one of the most peaceful areas of the country, and the local Kurdish government has been friendly to the United States. In December 2007, after a series of Turkish air raids against the region, the leader of the Kurdish regional government, Massoud Barzani, canceled a scheduled meeting with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice when she toured northern Iraq. His refusal was taken as a protest against sharing American intelligence with Turkey. The regional government has not condoned PKK attacks on Turkey, but neither has it taken steps to stop cross-border raids.
- Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK). The remote mountainous area where Turkish troops invaded is nominally controlled by the Kurdistan regional government, but is effectively patrolled by the PKK, which has an estimated 3,000 guerrillas in the region. The PKK was formed in 1973 as a radical left-wing party dedicated to achieving the nationalist aspirations of ethnic Kurds living in Turkey, as well as those in Iraq and Iran. After a decade of political organizing the PKK launched a guerrilla war that lasted for 16 years and was blamed for killing over 30,000 people. In 1999, the PKK announced a cease-fire after its long-time leader, Abdullah Ocalan, was arrested in Kenya. In 2002 the PKK changed its name to the Kurdistan Freedom and Democracy Congress (KADEK) and said it would focus on nonviolent activities in support of Kurdish rights. In 2003 it underwent another name change, to Kongra-Gel (KGK), and the next year said it was canceling its cease-fire in response to activities of Turkish security forces. (See separate Background Information Summary in this database for more details.)
- United States. The United States had been sharing intelligence with Turkey during earlier bombing attacks. A week after the large-scale ground assault, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, on his way to visit Turkey, said, "It's very important that the Turks make this operation as short as possible and then leave. They have to be mindful of Iraqi sovereignty. I measure quick in terms of days, a week or two, something like that, not months." Washington had long sought to avoid a serious Turkish incursion into Iraq for fear of creating a rift between two key allies in the region. In March 2007, for example, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice suggested that the United States might send its own special forces into northern Iraq to attack the PKK.
History/Background
The February 21, 2008, incursion into Iraq came after weeks of rising tensions along the Turkey-Iraq border generated by cross-border PKK attacks on Turkish soldiers. On December 18, 2007, two months after the parliament in Istanbul approved military action, a small number of Turkish troops entered Iraqi territory. This short-lived invasion followed Turkish bombing raids on PKK positions inside Iraq.
News reports said the United States supplied Turkey with intelligence information about the PKK that was used in support of Turkish air raids in 2007. For practical purposes the Iraq government in Baghdad exercises little influence over the region, which falls under the jurisdiction of the semi-autonomous Kurdish government.
Turkey also adamantly opposes steps that might lead to an independent Kurdish state carved out of the part of northern Iraq controlled in early 2008 by the Kurdish regional government. A referendum to decide whether the city of Kirkuk should remain under the jurisdiction of Baghdad or become the de facto capital of the semi-autonomous Kurdish regional government was scheduled for December 2007 but postponed for six months. Turkey feared that handing over control of the city to the regional government could be a step towards an independent Kurdish state.
The conflict between Turkey and Kurds dates from the demise of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I, and the redrawing of national boundaries. In that process, overseen by Britain and France, the Kurdish people were left without a unique homeland, and instead were spread over parts of Turkey, Iraq, and Iran. This situation in turn led to the rise of Kurdish nationalist groups that have sought a variety of allies and adopted a variety of tactics, including guerrilla warfare often denounced as terrorism, in their efforts to create a separate nation.
There are about 20 million ethnic Kurds in the region, with their own language (closely related to Persian). Most of them are Sunni Muslims. Until the end of World War I they were primarily a nomadic people, herding sheep and goats in lands that later became Turkey, Iraq, and Iran. About 10 million Kurds live in Turkey, where they comprise about 20% of the population. There are about four million Kurds in Iraq, five million in Iran, and smaller communities in Syria and Armenia.
Sentiments against Kurdish nationalism have long been especially strong in Turkey, where the government declines to use the term "Kurds" and insists on "mountain Turks" instead. Turkey for a long time barred teaching the Kurdish language or registering Kurdish names for children. Kurdish nationalists in Turkey utilized terrorist tactics in a prolonged campaign that cost some 30,000 lives.
Kurdish nationalism was also interwoven with the Cold War. In 1946 Kurdish nationalists established a short-lived republic in Iran. When it was defeated, the Kurdish leader took refuge in the Soviet Union. In the mid-1970s a leading nationalist group among Turkish Kurds was led by an avowed Marxist, whereas Turkey was a staunch ally of the United States.
Bibliography
KONGRA-GEL. Background Information Summary. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=tsh&AN=27216288&site=isc-live
Kurdish Workers Party. Background Information Summary. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=tsh&AN=19131196&site=isc-live
Kurds and Kurdistan Overview. Background Information Summary. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=tsh&AN=25054248&site=isc-live
Turkey-Iraq-Kurdish Crisis 2007. Background Information Summary. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=tsh&AN=27216288&site=isc-live