Azerbaijan, Baku /corr. Trend A.Gasimova / If Iraqi Kurds don't wish to help, the US will have to do it single-handedly by bombing PKK strongholds, said Prof. Amatzia Baram of the United States Institute of Peace in Washington.
Turkey has repeatedly highlighted possible military intrusion on Northern Iraq to liquidate militants of the separatist Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK). The Parliament of Turkey gave permission to this in mid October.
The Government of Turkey stated that it was prepared to cease military operations if the problem was solved by the Government of Iraq. However, Baghdad accepted that it is not capable of coping with the PKK fighters whose bases are mainly located in the mountains.
After a full series of attacks on Turkish soldiers, the Parliament of the country made the decision to hold special operations in Northern Iraq. Large groups of the Turkish Army were brought to the border, but operations have not yet begun.
The United States is ready to support Turkey in fighting against terror, the U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stated.
Baram reported to Trend on 5 December by telephone that the US has an obligation to work with the Kurdish Regional Government to eliminate all PKK presence in the Iraqi-Turkish border area.
"If the US is reluctant to do this they will have at minimum tolerate a limited Turkish invasion at border areas inside Iraq to perform mop-up operations," the expert said.
As for the Iraqi government in Baghdad, they do not control Baghdad, how can they control the high mountain ranges of Kurdistan, hundreds of miles north of Baghdad, Baram said.
On 30 November, the Government of Turkey confirmed the implementation of anti-terror operations and in several hours, artilleries and helicopters bombed the positions of the Kurdish fighters. Later, the Turkish side announced that the goals of the operations were achieved and the enemy incurred hard losses. Firstly representatives of the PKK refuted the Turkish attack, but later everybody accepted the missile-bomb thrust. However, according to them, no one was injured on the Kurdish side.