BY DERYA SAZAK
MILLIYET- Three sergeants, two privates and one corporal from units attached to the 3rd Brigade were killed yesterday by a mine laid by the terrorist PKK. After six innocent people were killed by Tuesday's bomb attack in Ankara, the death of these soldiers deepened the public sorrow. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that if the military asks for it, Parliament would provide legal support for a cross-border operation into northern Iraq. It seems that now there is a desire to take Turkey into the Iraqi quagmire, and that the PKK is again a big issue after a period of dormancy. Those who pine for the conflicts of the '90s are trying to force Turkey to deal with terrorism at a time of elections. Notes I obtained of PKK head Abdullah Ocalan's meetings with his lawyers said that a Kurdish nation-state supported by the US and Israel would be in conflict with the Turkish Republic.
Rising nationalism is making our nation, shaken by these recent attacks, angrier and more inclined to violence. When soldiers die, the public asks what we're waiting for. In past years Turkey has conducted military operations in northern Iraq, and today a new cross-border operation might be coming. If Parliament decides to do this, our military would go to Iraq. The army is ready to do this. But the problem isn't limited to the PKK or even (Kurdish administration leader) Massoud Barzani and Iraq President Jalal Talabani (also a Kurd). The US stands behind the status quo in northern Iraq. What does the US really want? Through its occupation of Iraq, the US makes poor people die on their own land, blown up by bomb attacks and living in an insecure atmosphere, and this situation in Turkey is seen by the US as just background news. The Bush administration's irresponsibility has set the Middle East on fire. Turkey might be turned into another Iraq with suicide bombers and could even join the ranks of countries suffering from civil war, just like Baghdad, Beirut and Palestine. Such a situation would serve the interests of extreme nationalist Westerners like new French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who said he doesn't Europe's borders to reach Iraq, Syria and Iran. Turkey is suffering through a tough time both inside and out. The nation feels besieged. When we see victims of terrorism, we are hurt. As the elections loom, we should work to keep our heads. I send my condolences to the mothers of the fallen soldiers.