News items that look towards Ezekiel 38 & 39

[Shammu]

Russia promises retaliation if weapons deployed in space
14:17    |    27/ 09/ 2007

MOSCOW, September 27 (RIA Novosti) - Russia is ready to take appropriate measures if weapons are deployed in space, the commander of the Russian Space Forces said Thursday.

"Should any country deploy weapons in space, then the laws of armed warfare are such that retaliatory weapons are certain to appear," Col. Gen. Vladimir Popovkin said.

He said Russia and China have drafted an international declaration on the non-deployment of weapons in space and sent it to the UN.

"It is necessary to establish the rules of the game in space," he said, adding that the deployment of weapons in space could have unpredictable consequences, since such weapons are "very complex systems."

"A sizable war could break out," the commander said.

He said space must not be the sphere of interests of any one country.

"We do not want to fight in space, and we do not want to call the shots there either, but we will not permit any other country to do so," he said.

Popovkin also said that Russia has an integrated missile attack warning system, covering the country's entire territory.

Russia promises retaliation if weapons deployed in space

[Shammu]

Russia sent technicians to Syria
JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST    Oct. 2, 2007

Russia has sent technicians to upgrade Syria's air defense system, The Times reported Tuesday morning.

The British newspaper said that Moscow sent the team after Israel managed to foil Syria's air defenses using stealth technology, allowing Israeli jets to remain invisible during an IAF strike on September 6.

Foreign reports that have surfaced since the incident indicated that Israeli jets assisted by a unit of special operations ground troops bombed and totally destroyed a strategic site in eastern Syria built with North Korean help.

According to the Times report, the Israeli Air Force used a sophisticated electronic warfare system operated by F-15I jets and a fleet of specialist electronic warfare aircraft over the Mediterranean during the attack on a suspected nuclear facility near Dayr az-Zawr. They transmitted signals that jammed the Russian-made radar and the Syrian army's communications.

Syria has been veering from condemnation to denial since the alleged attack, and in the past few days has stuck to a strong denial of any nuclear activity and claimed that the IAF attack was aimed at a civilian agricultural research center.

The top-secret system used by Israel, the paper claimed, was being used for the first time. It is believed to have been designed in readiness for a possible attack on Iran's nuclear sites.

Russia sent technicians to Syria

[Shammu]

Israeli Air Force used a sophisticated electronic warfare system operated by F-15I jets and a fleet of specialist electronic warfare aircraft over the Mediterranean during the attack on a suspected nuclear facility near Dayr az-Zawr. They transmitted signals that jammed the Russian-made radar and the Syrian army's communications.

This is the same super advanced system that they sold the Iranians. The problem for the Russians is this..... American and Israeli air strike happened and they were invisible to the system. This means Iran is defenseless against air strikes!!

There is a BIG panic going on right now in Syria and Iran. They are both facing war with an enemy who can side step their defense systems, and its too late to back out.

As this story unfolds, it gets worse and worse......

1) Ground forces walk into a sensitive military base, and make off with sensitive material undetected.

2) The air strike totally wipes out a top secret military site and Syria only find out about it afterwards (not even during the strike!).
2A) Shortly afterwards Syria had the chemical weapon accident killing Syrian and Iranian technicians... a foiled retaliation??

3) This is what jumps out at me.... The day before (Sept 5th) is the day we heard about nukes loaded on board an airborne B52 by accident... Really? Or was that a message to the Russians to stay out?

What was out there in the desert is just rumor for now... but I think it was nuclear material. It looks like chemical weapons were going to be fired at Israel in retaliation and the war was going to start.

[Shammu]

October 2, 2007
Vladimir Putin proposes job swap at top to tighten his grip on power

Tony Halpin, Moscow Correspondent

President Putin unveiled his plan yesterday for holding on to power indefinitely with a bombshell announcement that he will run for parliament.

Mr Putin said that he would head the electoral list for the United Russia party in December’s parliamentary elections, adding that it was “entirely realistic” that he would go on to become prime minister.

The decision solves the Kremlin’s “succession problem”, paving the way for a weak figurehead to replace Mr Putin as president next March while he continues to govern Russia as a powerful prime minister.

It also raises the likelihood that Viktor Zubkov, who was plucked from obscurity by Mr Putin to become Prime Minister last month, will be endorsed as his successor in the Kremlin.

Mr Putin, 56, is barred by the Constitution from seeking a third consecutive term. But there is nothing to stop him taking charge as prime minister for four years before returning for two more terms as president.

Mr Zubkov, who is 66, expressed an interest in standing for the presidency shortly after his appointment. His age and loyalty to Mr Putin would make him an ideal stop-gap candidate.

Any sudden illness that forced him to retire from the presidency would even allow Mr Putin to return to the Kremlin in an early election.

The manoeuvre dashes the ambitions of senior politicians seen as successors. In particular, it leaves Sergei Ivanov and Dmitry Medvedev, the two first deputy prime ministers, with no prospect of attaining the presidency unless they ran against Mr Putin’s nominated candidate.

Neither man is likely to opt for such a high-risk strategy. The anti-Putin opposition in The Other Russia, the coalition movement of the chess champion Garry Kasparov, has been banking on tensions to encourage a breakaway candidate.

Mr Putin’s announcement was clearly stage-managed but brought wild cheering at United Russia’s party congress. Asked to comment on a suggestion that he should head the party’s electoral list, he replied: “I gratefully accept your proposal.”

Mr Putin said that he was ready to lead the Government, but added: “It is still too early to think about it.” He continued: “Two conditions must be met first — United Russia must win the election and a decent, capable and modern person with whom I work as a team should be elected as president.”

Neither of those conditions is much of an obstacle. Mr Putin’s popularity almost ensures that United Russia will retain its two-thirds majority in the Duma, Russia’s parliament.

Whoever he endorses for president is equally certain of success in a campaign tightly controlled by the Kremlin, and with a pliant media.

Mr Putin is not obliged to take a seat in parliament under Russia’s electoral system. But analysts said that his decision to enter the race signalled a fundamental shift in the way Russia would be governed. They predicted that Russian politics would evolve into a system of parliamentary government with competing parties.

A White House spokesman said that Mr Putin’s decision was “ultimately a matter for the people of Russia”.

Financial markets reacted positively, believing Mr Putin had removed uncertainty surrounding the succession.

Vladimir Putin proposes job swap at top to tighten his grip on power

[Shammu]

Turks Angry Over House Armenian Genocide Vote

Published: October 12, 2007

ISTANBUL, Oct. 11 — Turkey reacted angrily today to a House committee vote in Washington on Wednesday that condemned the mass killings of Armenians in Turkey during World War I as an act of genocide, calling the decision “unacceptable.”

In a rare and uncharacteristically strong condemnation, President Abdullah Gul criticized the vote by the House Foreign Relations Committee and warned that the decision could work against the United States.

“Unfortunately, some politicians in the United States have once more dismissed calls for common sense, and made an attempt to sacrifice big issues for minor domestic political games,” Mr. Gul said in a statement to the semi-official Anatolian News Agency. “This is not a type of attitude that works to the benefit of, and suits, representatives of a great power like the Unites States of America. This unacceptable decision of the committee, like similar ones in the past, has no validity and is not worthy of the respect of the Turkish people.”

The House decision prompted reaction on the streets of Turkey’s capital, Ankara, where the youth branch of the extreme leftist Workers’ Party laid a black wreath at the entrance to the United States Embassy and spray-painted the Turkish flag onto an Embassy wall. The group held Turkish flags, posters of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Turkish Republic, and banners reading, “Armenian genocide is an imperialistic lie,” the Anatolian News Agency reported. The protesters called for the closing of the Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey, which American troops use to supply the military in central Iraq. “The U.S. once more showed that it is not our strategic ally but an enemy,” the Workers’ Party branch said in a statement.

The Associated Press reported that Turkey today recalled its ambassador in Washington, Nabi Sensoy, for consultations about the issue. A Foreign Ministry spokesman, Levent Bilman, said the ambassador would stay in Turkey for about a week to 10 days. Ross Wilson, the American ambassador, tried to calm relations, issuing a statement today in which he said the partnership between Turkey and the United States was strong and would remain so and that he, President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice regretted the committee decision. Ms. Rice was expected to talk by telephone to Mr. Gul and the prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, later today, a State Department spokesman said.

Nevertheless, the Turkish Foreign Ministry warned that relations with the United States will be made more complicated. “The committee’s approval of this resolution was an irresponsible move which, at a greatly sensitive time, will make relations with a friend and ally” more difficult, the Anatolian News Agency quoted a Foreign Ministry statement as saying.

The Associated Press reported that the Armenian president, Robert Kocharian, today welcomed the resolution but also urged Turkey to join in talks with Armenia to restore bilateral relations.

The House decision rebuffed an intense campaign by the White House and earlier warnings from Turkey’s government that the vote would gravely strain its relations with the United States.

The vote was nonbinding and so largely symbolic, but its consequences could reach far beyond bilateral relations and spill into the war in Iraq.

Turkish officials and lawmakers warned that if the resolution was approved by the full House, they would reconsider supporting the American war effort, which includes permission to ship essential supplies through Turkey and northern Iraq.

Mr. Erdogan, speaking on CNN Turk television station on Wednesday, refused to say immediately what effect the resolution might have on the Incirlik base, a major transit station for American troops in Iraq.

Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House, said today that a vote could be put to the full House in the next few weeks, and in any case before the end of the current session on Nov. 16.

Before the Wednesday vote, President Bush appeared on the South Lawn of the White House and implored the House not to take up the issue, only to have a majority of the committee disregard his warning at the end of the day, by a vote of 27 to 21.

“We all deeply regret the tragic suffering of the Armenian people that began in 1915,” Mr. Bush said in remarks that, reflecting official American policy, carefully avoided the use of the word genocide. “This resolution is not the right response to these historic mass killings, and its passage would do great harm to our relations with a key ally in NATO and in the global war on terror.”

A total of 1.5 million Armenians were killed beginning in 1915 in a systematic campaign by the fraying Ottoman Empire to drive Armenians out of eastern Turkey. Turks acknowledge that hundreds of thousands of Armenians died but contend that the deaths, along with thousands of others, resulted from the war that ended with the creation of modern Turkey in 1923.

The House resolution was introduced early in the current session of Congress and has quietly moved forward over the last few weeks. But it provoked a fierce lobbying fight that pitted the politically influential Armenian-American population against the Turkish government, which hired equally influential former lawmakers like Robert L. Livingston, Republican of Louisiana, and Richard A. Gephardt, the former Democratic House majority leader, who backed a similar resolution when he was in Congress.

Backers of the resolution said Congressional action was overdue.

“Despite President George Bush twisting arms and making deals, justice prevailed,” said Representative Brad Sherman, a Democrat of California and a sponsor of the resolution. ”For if we hope to stop future genocides we need to admit to those horrific acts of the past.”

The issue of the Armenian genocide has perennially transfixed Congress and bedeviled presidents of both parties. Ronald Reagan was the only president publicly to call the killings genocide, but his successors have avoided the term.

cont's next post

[Shammu]

When the issue last arose, in 2000, a similar resolution also won approval by a House committee, but President Clinton then succeeded in persuading a Republican speaker, J. Dennis Hastert, to withdraw the measure before the full House could vote. That time, too, Turkey had warned of canceling arms deals and withdrawing support for American air forces then patrolling northern Iraq under the auspices of the United Nations.

The new speaker, Nancy Pelosi, faced pressure from Democrats — especially colleagues in California, New Jersey and Michigan, with their large Armenian populations — to revive the resolution again after her party gained control of the House and Senate this year.

There is Democratic support for the resolution in the Senate, but it is unlikely to move in the months ahead because of Republican opposition and a shortage of time. Still, the Turkish government has made it clear that it would regard House passage alone as a harsh American indictment.

The sharply worded Turkish warnings against the resolution, especially the threats to cut off support for the American war in Iraq, seemed to embolden some of the resolution’s supporters. “If they use this to destabilize our solders in Iraq, well, then shame on them,” said Representative Joseph Crowley, a Democrat from New York who voted for it.

The Democratic leadership, however, appeared divided. Representative Rahm Emanuel, the fourth-ranking Democrat in the House, who worked in the Clinton White House when the issue came up in 2000, opposes the resolution.

In what appeared to be an effort to temper the anger caused by the issue, Democrats said they were considering a parallel resolution that would praise Turkey’s close relations with the United States even as the full House prepares to consider a resolution that blames the forerunner of modern Turkey for one of the worst crimes in history.

“Neither of these resolutions is necessary,” a White House spokesman, Gordon D. Johndroe, said Wednesday evening. He said that Mr. Bush was “very disappointed” with the vote.

Mr. Bush discussed the resolution in the White House on Wednesday with his senior national security aides. Speaking by secure video from Baghdad, the senior American officials in Iraq, Gen. David H. Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker, raised the resolution and warned that its passage could harm the war effort in Iraq, senior Bush aides said.

Appearing outside the West Wing after that meeting, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates noted that about 70 percent of all air cargo sent to Iraq passed through or came from Turkey, as did 30 percent of fuel and virtually all the new armored vehicles designed to withstand mines and bombs.

“They believe clearly that access to airfields and to the roads and so on in Turkey would be very much put at risk if this resolution passes and the Turks react as strongly as we believe they will,” Mr. Gates said, referring to the remarks of General Petraeus and Mr. Crocker.

Turkey severed military ties with France after its Parliament voted in 2006 to make the denial of the Armenian genocide a crime.

As the committee prepared to vote Wednesday, Mr. Bush, the American ambassador to Turkey, Ross Wilson, and other officials cajoled lawmakers by phone.

Representative Mike Pence, a conservative Republican from Indiana who has backed the resolution in the past, said Mr. Bush persuaded him to change his position and vote no. He described the decision as gut-wrenching, underscoring the emotions stirred in American politics by a 92-year-old question.

“While this is still the right position,” Mr. Pence said, referring to the use of the term genocide, “it is not the right time.”

The House Democratic leadership met Wednesday morning with Mr. Sensoy, Turkey’s ambassador to Washington, and other Turkish officials, who argued against moving ahead with a vote. But Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, who now holds Mr. Gephardt’s old job as majority leader, said he and Ms. Pelosi would bring the resolution to the floor before Congress adjourned this year.

In Turkey, a fresh wave of violence raised the specter of a Turkish raid into northern Iraq, something the United States is strongly urging against. A policeman was killed and six others were wounded in a bomb attack in the Kurdish city of Diyarbakir in southeastern Turkey on Wednesday, the state-run Anatolian News Agency reported.

The Associated Press reported from the town of Sirnak that Turkish warplanes and helicopters were attacking positions along the southern border with Iraq that are suspected of belonging to Kurdish rebels who have been fighting Turkish forces for years.

The Turkish government continued to prepare to request Parliament’s permission for an offensive into Iraq, with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggesting that a vote could be held after the end of Ramadan. Parliamentary approval would bring Turkey the closest it has been since 2003 to a full-scale military offensive into Iraq. Sadullah Ergin, a senior government official, said today that the request was likely to be brought to Parliament next week, possibly as early as Monday after a cabinet meeting that day, according to the Anatolian News Agency. Sedat Laciner, from the International Strategic Research Institution, said that the Turkish public felt betrayed by what was perceived as a lack of American support for Turkey in its battle against the Kurds.

“American officials could think that Turkish people would ultimately forget about the lack of U.S. support in this struggle,” Mr. Laciner said, using words that could apply equally to views about the Armenian genocide. “Memories of Turks, however, are not that easy to erase once it hits sensitive spots.”

Turks Angry Over House Armenian Genocide Vote

[Shammu]

Turkey recalls ambassador over genocide resolution
October 12, 2007

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Turkey has recalled its ambassador to the United States in response to a House resolution that would call the World War I massacre of Armenians by Turkish forces genocide, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

 The House Committee on Foreign Affairs passed the measure 27-21 Wednesday, even though President Bush and key administration figures lobbied hard against it. The full House is expected to vote on it, possibly Friday.

A top Turkish official warned Thursday that consequences "won't be pleasant" if the full House approves the resolution.

"Yesterday some in Congress wanted to play hardball," said Egemen Bagis, foreign policy adviser to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "I can assure you Turkey knows how to play hardball."

Asked about Ambassador Nabi Sensoy's recall after the news broke, a State Department spokesman said he could not confirm it. "People are sometimes called back for consultation; sometimes they're called back for other reasons," said spokesman Tom Casey.

"If they wanted to bring their ambassador back for consultations or do something else, that is their decision. I certainly think that it will not do anything to limit our efforts to continue to reach out to Turkish officials, to explain our views, to engage them on this issue and again to make clear that we intend to work on this with Congress."

Casey and White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said they both would like to see the resolution withdrawn without a vote by the full House. However, Casey said, "I don't think anyone is expecting that to happen at this point."

Democratic leaders said earlier if the Foreign Affairs Committee passed the resolution, they intended to bring it to the House floor. Video Watch why the resolution stirs strong emotions »

The House was not in session Thursday because of the funeral of Rep. Jo Ann Davis of Virginia, who died Saturday. Members may vote on the resolution Friday.

Turkey, a NATO member, has been a key U.S. ally in the Middle East and a conduit for sending supplies into Iraq.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday that good relations with Turkey are vital because 70 percent of the air cargo intended for U.S. forces in Iraq and 30 percent of the fuel consumed by those forces fly through Turkey.

U.S. commanders "believe clearly that access to airfields and roads and so on in Turkey would very much be put at risk if this resolution passes and the Turks react as strongly as we believe they will," Gates said.

Bagis said no French planes have flown through Turkish airspace since a French Parliament committee passed a similar resolution last year.

He said the response to the U.S. might not be the same, but warned if the full House passes it that "we will do something, and I can promise you it won't be pleasant."

Bagis spoke to reporters while in Washington to attend a meeting of the Carnegie Endowment.

In a statement on his Web site, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said the resolution was "unacceptable" and "doesn't fit a major power like the United States."

In a letter to Bush, Gul warned that "in the case that Armenian allegations are accepted, there will be serious problems in the relations between the two countries."

"We still hope that common sense will prevail and that the House of Representatives will not move this resolution any further," the Turkish Foreign Ministry Web site said.

The vote was also strongly criticized by Turkish newspapers, The Associated Press reported. "Bill of Hatred," said Hurriyet's front page, while Vatan's headline read "27 Foolish Americans."

Casey said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice planned to speak with the Turkish foreign minister about the issue later Thursday and had requested calls with Erdogan and Gul.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack issued a statement expressing "regret" for the committee's action, warning the resolution "may do grave harm to U.S.-Turkish relations and to U.S. interests in Europe and the Middle East."

The nonbinding House resolution said the deportation of nearly 2 million Armenians from the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1923, resulting in the deaths of 1.5 million of them, amounted to "genocide."

Turks strongly reject the genocide label, insisting there was no organized campaign against the Armenians and that many Turks also died in the chaos and violence of the period.

Sensoy said the resolution's passage would be a "very injurious move to the psyche of the Turkish people."

He predicted a backlash in the country, saying there would be setbacks on several fronts: Turkish-American relations, Turkish-Armenian relations and the normalization of relations between the nations of Turkey and Armenia.

The resolution's sponsor, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-California, said the measure already had 226 co-sponsors, more than enough votes to pass "and the most support an Armenian genocide resolution has ever received."

A similar resolution passed the committee by a 40-7 vote two years ago, but it never reached the full House floor.
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The resolution arrives at a particularly sensitive point in U.S.-Turkish relations. The United States has urged Turkey not to send its troops over the border into northern Iraq to fight Kurdish separatist rebels, who have launched some cross-border attacks against Turkish targets.

Observers of U.S.-Turkish relations have argued the House resolution could make Turkey less inclined to use restraint in dealing with its longstanding problems with the Kurdistan Workers Party.

Turkey recalls ambassador over genocide resolution

[Shammu]

(Now this makes more sense, of the US warning. DW)

US Warns Turkey to Stay Out of Iraq
By Associated Press

Tue Oct 9, 10:59 AM

SIRNAK, Turkey - The United States has urged Turkey to refrain from a cross-border military operation to chase separatist Kurdish rebels who operate from bases in northern Iraq.

Meanwhile, the Kurdish regional government's spokesman Jamal Abdullah pleaded with Turkey to show restraint after Tuesday's statement.

"We call upon the Turkish government to exercise self-restraint and not to turn the region into an unstable one," he said. "Such attacks will threaten the stability not only in Iraq but the whole region."

One punitive measure at Turkey's disposal is to close the border with northern Iraq.

Iran had done the same to protest detention of an Iranian official, and reopened its border Monday. U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack warned against a unilateral move.

"If they have a problem, they need to work together to resolve it, and I'm not sure that unilateral incursions are the way to go," he said.

"We have counseled, both in public and private, for many, many months, the idea that it is important to work cooperatively to resolve this issue."

US Warns Turkey to Stay Out of Iraq

[Shammu]

Turkey says it's ready for Iraq campaign

By SELCAN HACAOGLU, Associated Press Writer Fri Oct 12, 11:02 AM ET

ANKARA, Turkey - With Turkish-U.S. relations strained, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday that Turkey would not be deterred by the diplomatic consequences if it decides to stage a cross-border offensive into Iraq against Kurdish rebels.

"If such an option is chosen, whatever its price, it will be paid," Erdogan told reporters in response to a question about the international repercussions of such a decision, which would strain ties with the United States and Iraq. "There could be pros and cons of such a decision, but what is important is our country's interests."

Erdogan also had harsh words for the United States, which opposes a Turkish incursion into northern Iraq — one of the country's few relatively stable areas.

"Did they seek permission from anyone when they came from a distance of 10,000 kilometers and hit Iraq?" he said. "We do not need anyone else's advice."

Analysts say Turkey could be less restrained about defying the United States because of a congressional committee's approval of a resolution labeling the mass killings of Armenians around the time of World War I as genocide.

"Democrats are harming the future of the United States and are encouraging anti-American sentiments," Erdogan said. Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives support the resolution.

Erdogan said Turkey was ready to sacrifice good ties with Washington if necessary.

"Let it snap from wherever it gets thin," Erdogan said, using a Turkish expression that means breaking ties with someone or something.

At issue in the resolution is the killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks. Turkey denies that the deaths constituted genocide, saying the toll has been inflated, and those killed were victims of civil war and unrest that killed Muslims as well as the overwhelmingly Christian Armenians.

Turkey, a key supply route to U.S. troops in Iraq, recalled its ambassador to Washington for consultations and warned of serious repercussions if Congress passes the resolution.

"In the United States, there are several narrow-minded legislators who can't think of their own interests and who cannot understand the importance of Turkey," said Murat Mercan, head of the Turkish parliament's foreign relations committee.

Turkish authorities have refused to comment on whether Turkey might shut down Incirlik air base in southern Turkey, a major cargo hub for U.S. and allied military forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Turkey's Mediterranean port of Iskenderun is also used to ferry goods to American troops.

The Yeni Safak newspaper, which is close to the Turkish government, said Friday that Incirlik and $15 billion worth of defense contracts, including purchase of warplanes, missile and radar systems, could be reviewed. Turkey could also prevent U.S. firms from taking part in new contracts, Yeni Safak said.

Erdogan said Turkey has long been seeking the cooperation of Iraq and the United States in its fight against Kurdish guerrillas, but there has been no crackdown on the rebel Kurdistan Workers Party, which has bases in Iraq. Erdogan said a recent anti-terrorism deal signed with Iraq was not valid since it had not been approved by Iraq's parliament yet.

The Turkish parliament was expected to approve a government request to authorize an Iraq campaign as early as next week, after a holiday ending the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

"We are making necessary preparations to be ready in case we decide on a cross-border operation since we don't have patience to lose more time," Erdogan said, adding that Turkey has lost 30 people in rebel attacks over the past two weeks.

A Turkish soldier was killed in a mine explosion on Thursday night on Mt. Gabar in southeastern Sirnak province, authorities said Friday.

Turkish army units, backed by helicopter gunships, were hunting rebels in the rugged border area.

Bahoz Erdal, a senior rebel commander, said the PKK fighters were moving further inside Turkey and taking new "positions" in the face of attacks from Turkey, pro-Kurdish Firat News Agency reported Friday. The agency is based in Belgium.

The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people since 1984.

Turkey says it's ready for Iraq campaign

[Shammu]

Turkey plans incursion, PKK says ready to attack

By Ferit Demir 1 hour, 10 minutes ago

TUNCELI, Turkey (Reuters) - Kurdish separatist rebels said on Friday they were crossing back into Turkey to target politicians and police after Ankara said it was preparing to attack them in the mountains of northern Iraq.

As regional tensions rose, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan cautioned that relations between Ankara and Washington were in danger over a U.S. congressional resolution branding as genocide massacres of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915.

Washington harbors growing concerns about the possibility of a major Turkish military incursion to crush Kurdish rebels seeking a homeland in eastern Turkey. U.S. officials fear such an action could destabilize a relatively peaceful area of Iraq.

Ankara recalled its ambassador from the United States for consultations after the U.S. vote, which was strongly condemned in predominantly Muslim but secular Turkey.

"We don't need anyone's advice on northern Iraq and the operation to be carried out there," Erdogan told a cheering crowd in Istanbul, after saying that the United States "came tens of thousands of kilometers and attacked Iraq without asking anyone's permission."

Referring to relations with the United States and the Armenian resolution, Erdogan, using a Turkish idiom usually employed to describe relations, said: "Where the rope is worn thin, may it break off." He did not elaborate.

"All prospects look bad ... and relations with the U.S. have already gone down the drain," Semih Idiz, a veteran Turkish commentator, told Reuters.

"If Turkey sets its mind on something, whether wrong or right it will do it. The invasion of Cyprus in 1974 is a good example," he said, referring to a Turkish invasion of northern Cyprus which drew U.S. condemnation and sanctions.

A statement by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) could increase domestic pressure on Ankara to launch a big offensive that Washington fears could have ramifications in the region.

The United States relies heavily on Turkish bases to supply its war effort in Iraq.

Erdogan said his government was ready for any world criticism if Turkey launched an attack against some 3,000 PKK rebels who use north Iraq as a base to attack Turkish targets.

Ankara blames the PKK for the deaths of more than 30,000 people since the group launched its armed struggle for an ethnic homeland in southeast Turkey in 1984.

Some analysts say an offensive became more likely after the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee approved the bill on Wednesday. Relations with Washington have hitherto been a strong restraining force on Turkey.

Turkey denies that genocide was committed but said many died in inter-ethnic fighting. It remains a sensitive issue, but many Turks are starting to more openly discuss such past taboos.

The PKK statement moved world oil prices back above $83 a barrel, traders said. The Kirkuk oil fields of northern Iraq feed export pipelines running north into Turkey.

ERDOGAN FACES MOUNTING PRESSURE

After a sharp escalation of attacks by Kurdish militants on Turkish troops, Erdogan's government, which faces pressure from the public and the army to act, has decided to seek approval from parliament next week for a major operation.

Erdogan said he wanted to secure approval now to avoid spending time later if and when an operation was warranted.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called Erdogan on Thursday to express her disappointment at the U.S. Armenian bill, which the White House has tried to stop.

The non-binding Armenian resolution now goes to the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, where Democrat leaders say there will be a vote next month. The resolution was proposed by a politician with many Armenian-Americans in his district.

Turkey has cautioned that the bill would have negative consequences for bilateral ties. Potential moves could include blocking U.S. access to the Incirlik air base, cancelling army contracts, downscaling bilateral visits, denying air space to U.S. aircraft, and halting joint exercises.

Iraqi Defence Minister Abdul-Qadir Mohammed Jasim held talks with Turkey's ambassador to Baghdad on Friday to seek ways to improve bilateral ties in fighting terrorism.

Erdogan said Turkey respected Iraq's unity but if it did

nothing to stop the PKK, considered a terrorist organization group by Washington, Ankara and the EU, then Ankara had to act.

Analysts and diplomats cast doubt on whether PKK rebels would leave their Iraqi hideouts for the southeast of Turkey where tens of thousands of heavily armed troops are positioned.

"The guerrillas are not moving to the south (northern Iraq); on the contrary they are moving to ... places in the north," the PKK said in a statement published on Firat news agency.

The PKK said its fighters planned to carry out attacks against the ruling AK Party, the main opposition CHP and the police unless certain conditions were met. It did not elaborate.

Turkey plans incursion, PKK says ready to attack

[nChrist]

Pelosi and Democrats are INSANE! They have now provided proof that they are determined to see the Middle East BLOW UP! This will probably do it!

[Soldier4Christ]

They are definitely working to bring the muslim nations together into one and against both Israel and America.

[Shammu]

They are definitely working to bring the muslim nations together into one and against both Israel and America.

I look more towards Israel, then the United States. Israel has always been hated by the mid-east. Where as America is seen as a land of opportunity, for the muslims.

Think about it brother, why else would CAIR be doing what they are doing......

[Soldier4Christ]

I look more towards Israel, then the United States. Israel has always been hated by the mid-east. Where as America is seen as a land of opportunity, for the muslims.

Think about it brother, why else would CAIR be doing what they are doing......

I have thought about it a great deal and I still say the same thing.

Yes, it is a land of opportunity, the opportunity to take over the nation by any means possible. By taking us over they think that they will then be able to take over Israel as it is in their minds that we are the only thing standing in the way of their objective.

This is cairs objective and one they have already stated ...  they work to destroy the U.S. by any means they can, peaceful or violence.

[Shammu]

Putin told of plot to assassinate him during visit to Tehran
The Associated Press
Published: October 14, 2007

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin has been told of a plot to assassinate him during a visit to Iran this week, a Kremlin spokeswoman said Sunday.

The spokeswoman, who spoke on customary condition of anonymity, refused further comment.

Interfax news agency, citing a source in Russia's special services, said suicide terrorists had been trained to carry out the assassination.

Putin is to travel to Tehran on Monday night from Germany after meetings with Chancellor Angela Merkel.

During his visit to Iran, Putin is to meet with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and attend Tuesday's summit of Caspian Sea nations. He is the first Kremlin leader to travel to Iran since Josef Stalin attended the 1943 wartime summit with Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt.

In Tehran, a spokesman for Iran's Foreign Ministry, Mohammad Ali Hosseini, denied any such plot had been uncovered and he characterized the news as disinformation spread by Iran's adversaries.

"These sort of reports are completely baseless and in direction with psychological operations of enemies of relations between Iran and Russia," Hosseini said in a statement.

Hosseini said, "Reporting of this type of sheer lie ... has no news value and cannot harm the planned schedule."

The official Islamic Republic News Agency called the reports part of a psychological war by the Western intelligence services aimed at forcing the cancellation of Putin's visit to Tehran.

Officials have reported uncovering at least two other plots to kill Putin on foreign trips since he became president in 2000.

Ukrainian security officials said they foiled an attempt to kill Putin during a summit in Yalta in August 2000.

In 2001, Russian security officials said a plot to assassinate Putin earlier that year in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, had been uncovered by the Azeri special services.

Russian officials linked both alleged plots to Chechen separatists. Putin had sent troops back into the southern Russian republic to crush resistance to Moscow's rule.

Putin told of plot to assassinate him during visit to Tehran