Turkish troops crossed into northern Iraq last week in pursuit of Kurdish rebels, but the real danger lies inside the country, Gareth Jenkins reports On Thursday, Turkey launched a military incursion against militants of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in northern Iraq in the largest cross-border land operation since the mid-1990s. The incursion came the day after the PKK killed 24 Turkish soldiers in southeast Turkey. It was the largest Turkish death toll in a single PKK operation since 1993 and triggered another rise in already dangerously high ethnic tensions in the country. In recent years, the PKK has often staged high casualty, high-profile attacks in October in order to demonstrate its continuing strength before the winter snows in the mountains of southeast Turkey put an end to its campaigning season. In the early hours of Wednesday, PKK units launched simultaneous attacks on eight military targets in the province of Hakkari on Turkey's border with Iraq. Although the Turkish authorities put the death toll at 24, local sources claimed that more than 30 soldiers had been killed. After initial shock at the size of the death toll, tens of thousands of Turks took to the streets to stage nationalist demonstrations and chant anti-PKK slogans. While hundreds of thousands more hung Turkish flags from their windows and balconies. As has become common in recent years, there were also a number of attacks on Kurdish-owned premises and offices of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), which Turkish nationalists accuse of supporting the PKK. Inevitably, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) came under intense public pressure to be seen to be doing something. Turkish troops had been massed on the country's border since mid-summer, ready to launch a land incursion against suspected PKK camps and bases in northern Iraq. Since August, Turkish warplanes have regularly conducted bombing raids against PKK assets in northern Iraq. On Thursday, as the first funerals were held for the victims of the PKK attack, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave the green light for a cross-border land operation. Over 10,000 troops were deployed in a huge search and destroy mission against the PKK in border areas. Some of the troops were deployed inside Turkey, others crossed the border, penetrating several kilometres into Iraq. On Saturday, the Turkish military claimed that the operation had resulted in the deaths of 49 PKK militants. On Monday, Turkish Chief of Staff Necdet Ozel gave a rare television interview in which he claimed that, in addition to the land operation, the Turkish military's air raids had killed around 250 PKK militants and inflicted devastating damage on its infrastructure in northern Iraq. But privately even the Turkish military acknowledges that the PKK cannot be eradicated by military means. Earlier this year, the Turkish government abruptly broke off secret negotiations with the PKK in the run-up to the June general election. Since the election, in which he was returned to power in a landslide, Erdogan has repeatedly declared that he has no intention of returning to dialogue and has vowed to destroy the PKK by force. In recent weeks, in addition to the military operations, the Turkish authorities have ordered the arrest of hundreds of non-violent Kurdish nationalists on allegations of belonging to PKK front organisations, even though many are outspoken critics of the PKK's often brutal campaign of violence. For many Turks, who for decades have been listening to official body counts and predictions that the PKK is on the point of collapse, last week's incursion into northern Iraq will have merely reinforced their sense of frustration. In the past, the Turkish military has launched several land operations into northern Iraq -- each one of which was heralded as a triumph and a turning point -- only to withdraw again and for the PKK to regroup, rearm and re-escalate its insurgency. Although few Turks are prepared to admit it publicly, there is a growing sense that, even if it wins nearly every battle, Turkey is losing the war against the PKK. Disturbingly, in recent years, there has been a growing tendency for frustration at the Turkish state's failure to eradicate the PKK, fuel an increase in anti-Kurdish sentiment. On Sunday, the predominantly Kurdish province of Van in southeast Turkey was hit by a huge earthquake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale. After 48 hours, the death toll stood at close to 400 and was expected to continue to rise as more bodies were discovered beneath the rubble of collapsed buildings. Although it is not a hotbed of PKK activity, Van has frequently been the scene of pro-Kurdish demonstrations and public protests. On Monday, as the Turkish state mobilised support, dispatching rescue teams and humanitarian aid to the region, Muge Anli, a presenter on the ATV television channel declared that she hoped the earthquake had taught the Kurds a lesson. "Everybody should know their place," announced Anli. "You throw stones at the police, you hunt them down like birds and then you want help." Anli's statement was condemned by human rights activists, but she refused to apologise, insisting that she stood by what she had said. Even if few Turks have been prepared to defend her publicly, there is no doubt that many share her views. Despite the AKP's attempt to assuage public anger by deploying Turkish troops into northern Iraq, the real danger over the months ahead is that the growth in anti-Kurdish sentiment will see the conflict moving down from the mountains and onto the streets in ethnic clashes between Turks and Kurds.
