They already were; this is just an ESCALATION!
"Turkish Warplanes Attack Kurds Near Border" by SEBNEM ARSU and GRAHAM BOWLEY
ISTANBUL, Oct. 24 — Turkish warplanes and helicopters on Wednesday attacked the broad mountain passes that Kurdish separatist rebels use to travel from hide-outs in northern Iraq into Turkey, the state-run Anatolian News Agency reported.
The report did not disclose the number of aircraft involved or whether they had entered Iraqi airspace. Some unconfirmed news reports said they had flown into Iraqi territory. The use of warplanes followed days of Turkish shelling.
In Baghdad, the American second in command, Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, said he could not confirm that any warplanes from Turkey, a NATO ally, had flown into Iraqi airspace, which is under United States control.
A Turkish government official briefed about the military’s activities on Tuesday evening said Turkish soldiers might already have crossed the border — a rocky, uninhabited area — in brief pursuits of the Kurdish rebels, returning quickly.
The Anatolian report said planes from Diyarbakir, the largest city in southeastern Turkey, destroyed hide-outs belonging to the rebel group, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or P.K.K.
In the past few days, Turkish armored vehicles have taken positions along the border, and Turkish newspapers have reported military operations, with helicopters firing at targets near the border and troops shelling several villages in northern Iraq.
The Anatolian agency said Turkish security forces had captured many P.K.K. hide-outs and destroyed livestock that they said belonged to the rebels.
Turkish lawmakers say that only American intervention can solve the problem.
A member of the governing AK party who refused to be identified:
“People are at a point beyond waiting for the results of proposals, offers and promises as such. Here, we expect the U.S. to do something tangible like returning some leading members of the P.K.K., closing down their camps. Only the U.S. has the intelligence and the capacity to do that.”
[Gates says we don't know shit.
Unless they are attacking Iran.]
