EU Pressures Turkey on Kurdistan Incursion

clipped from www.reuters.com EU says hopes Turkey respects Iraqi integrity BRUSSELS, Oct 10 (Reuters) - The European Commission said on Wednesday it hoped Turkey would respect Iraq's territorial integrity after the Turkish prime minister said his government was drawing up plans to authorise a military incursion. A major military incursion into northern Iraq, to crush Kurdish rebels using the region as a base, would strain ties with the United States and the European Union, which Ankara hopes to join, and could undermine regional stability. This could actually keep the Turks out of Kurdistan. Membership in the EU has been long coveted by Turkey and has been pushed by Prime Minister Erdogan's party. They have used it as a way to show that they are not trying to Islamicize Turkey. Even this pressure won't work for long if the PKK is still allowed to attack Turkey from a safe haven in Northern Iraq. Unfortunately, no one involved seems to have the ability or will to take on that challenge in the near term.