News items that look towards Ezekiel 38 & 39

[Shammu]

Turkey: Fighting with Kurds will surge

By SUZAN FRASER, Associated Press Writer Tue Oct 30, 5:04 PM ET

ANKARA, Turkey - Turkey's prime minister said Tuesday increased military action against separatist Kurdish rebels was "unavoidable" and pressed the United States for a crackdown on guerrilla bases in northern Iraq.

Turkish helicopters pounded rebel positions near the border with rockets for a second day and Turkey brought in troops by the truckload in an operation against mountainside emplacements.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told members of his party in parliament "it is now unavoidable that Turkey will have to go through a more intensive military process."

But he also suggested he was not seeking an immediate cross-border offensive against the rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, holed up in bases in northern Iraq. "The responsibility of leadership does not allow for narrow mindedness, haste or heroism," he said.

"We must remember that Turkey is part of this world and diplomacy has certain requirements," Erdogan added, suggesting the world expected Turkey to exhaust all nonmilitary options.

Erdogan flies to Washington on Nov. 5 for talks with President Bush that could be key to whether Turkey carries out its threat of a major military incursion. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is also expected in Turkey later this week.

"We will openly express that we expect urgent steps from the United States, which is our strategic partner and ally and has a special responsibility regarding Iraq," Erdogan said.

The United States, Iraq and other countries have been calling on Turkey to refrain from a cross-border campaign, which could throw one of the few stable areas in Iraq into chaos. A Turkish incursion would also put the United States in an awkward position with key allies: NATO-member Turkey, the Baghdad government and the self-governing Iraqi Kurds in the north.

White House press secretary Dana Perino said Bush's discussions with Erdogan would include "the fight against terrorism — in particular our joint efforts to counter the PKK."

Turkish Cobra attack helicopters blasted suspected PKK targets in the Mount Cudi area, near the southeastern border with Iraq for a second day, trying to hunt down some 100 rebels believed to be hiding in mountainside caves, the private Dogan news agency reported.

The fighting has claimed the lives of three Turkish soldiers and six guerrillas, local news reports said.

Transport helicopters flew in commando units to block possible rebel escape routes on Cudi, Dogan reported.

An AP Television News cameraman said attack helicopters escorted four Black Hawk helicopters on Cudi, as they airlifted soldiers to the mountain and picked others up. Smoke could be seen rising from areas that had been hit in the attacks.

Dogan reported a 100-vehicle military convoy traveling from Cizre toward the border.

A Kurdish political party warned that the fighting threatened to increase animosity between the Turkish and Kurdish populations in Turkey.

Turkey is "moving toward a dangerous war in our region which will seriously damage historical relations between Turks and Kurds," Nurettin Demirtas, a senior party official, told reporters.

Erdogan's Cabinet scheduled a meeting for Wednesday to discuss possible economic measures against groups supporting the Kurdish rebels.

Deputy Prime Minister Hayati Yazici said Turkey was considering a series of sanctions against the self-governing Kurdish administration in Iraq's north.

Yazici would not give any details, but the Iraqi region is heavily reliant on Turkish electricity and food imports, as well as Turkish investment in construction. There has been talk of shutting down the Habur border crossing — the only vehicular route into Iraq from Turkey.

Jamal Abdullah, a spokesman for the Iraqi Kurd regional government, complained that economic sanctions "would represent a collective punishment against Kurdistan's people."

He warned that Turkey and the U.S. Army also would suffer if the border crossing was closed. About 70 percent of U.S. air cargo headed for Iraq goes through Turkey, as does about one-third of the fuel used by the U.S. military there.

Massoud Barzani, the leader of Iraq's Kurdish region, called for a peaceful solution to the crisis.

"We believe that military action is not the solution. We are not part of this problem and we will not allow anyone to drag us into a war that is not our war," Barzani said at a news conference after a meeting of the regional parliament in Irbil.

At least 46 people have been killed by the PKK in Turkey over the past month, according to government and media reports. Those included at least 30 Turkish soldiers killed in two ambushes that were the boldest attacks in years and increased domestic pressure on Erdogan to act.

Turkey: Fighting with Kurds will surge

[Shammu]

Some of these headlines are beginning to make me hungry.

Im waiting for an article that says "Turkey gobbles Kurds. Unbuttons Belt. Takes Nap"

[Shammu]

Muslim Brotherhood Urges Jordan to Dissolve Treaty with Israel
 
by Hana Levi Julian

(IsraelNN.com) The Islamist organization that is outlawed in Egypt but tolerated in Jordan has called for the dissolution of the treaty signed 13 years ago between the Hashemite Kingdom and Israel.

In a statement released Tuesday, the Islamic Action Front (IAF), the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood organization, blamed some of Jordan's problems on the October, 1994 peace agreement.

"Since the signing of the peace treaty with Israel, freedoms and the rights of citizens have retreated in an unprecedented way. Political and economic reforms have stopped," said the statement, according to the AFP news agency.

The group also urged the Jordanian government to boycott the upcoming U.S.-sponsored Middle East Summit, to be held before the end of the year in Annapolis, Maryland.

"We call on Jordan and other Arab and Muslim countries to boycott the autumn meeting and not be involved in a conspiracy of normalization [with Israel]," said the statement.

Islamist Extremist Group is Tolerated in Jordan
The Muslim Brotherhood is the largest political opposition organization in a number of Arab nations, including Egypt, where it has been outlawed and where its members are often arrested prior to elections. In Kuwait, the group opposes allowing women to vote.

The organization is tolerated in Jordan where the Islamic Action Front, which currently holds 17 of the 110 seats in the Jordanian parliament, plans to run 22 candidates in next month's elections. Five of its members were expelled for running in parliamentary elections as independents without the permission of the party.

Sayyid Qutb, the late ideological father of the Muslim Brotherhood, called for the worldwide re-establishment of Sharia (Islamic religious law) and the use of "physical power and Jihad to abolish the organizations and authorities of the Jahili (pagan) system." The group believes all Islamic governments must eventually be united under a global Caliphate.

Muslim Brotherhood Urges Jordan to Dissolve Treaty with Israel

[Shammu]

Israel to UN: Hezbollah has tripled its land-to-sea missile arsenal
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent

Hezbollah has tripled its arsenal of C-802 land-to-sea missiles and has rehabilitated its military strength north of the Litani River, according to information handed over by Israel to the United Nations.

The information was included in a report compiled by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701, which brought the Second Lebanon War to an end.

During the war, a C-802 missile struck the INS Hanit off the Lebanese coast, killing four naval servicemen.

Ban said in the report that Israel had transferred a great deal of information demonstrating that Hezbollah has rehabilitated its military strength north of the Litani River.

The report states that, according to Israel, Hezbollah's long-range missile teams are deployed north of the river, and that "most of the new missiles include [the Iranian-made] Zelzal and Fajr missiles that have a range of over 250 kilometers and are capable of hitting areas south of Tel Aviv."

The report added that Israel says Hezbollah has established an anti-aircraft unit armed with surface-to-air missiles.

Ban said Israel has also informed the UN of an increase in Hezbollah activity south of the Litani, but stressed that Israel refused to provided intelligence information on the matter due to the sensitive nature of the sources.

The report stated that Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah's recent speeches lend credence to Israel's claims, but said senior Hezbollah officials have told the UN that "Nasrallah's comments were intended solely to deter possible aggression and not in order to threaten Israel."

The report was handed over to Security Council member states before being made public Wednesday.

According to the report, Israel and Lebanon have begun marking a 6-kilometer section of the "Blue Line" between Kibbutz Hanita and Alma ash-Shab with barrels, in a process mediated by the UN.

According to the report, the first barrel was placed on September 26, and the sides are conducting measurements in order to continue the process.

The Blue Line is the international border between Israel and Lebanon, determined following Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon in May 2000.

The border fence, however, follows the "Purple Line," a short distance inside Israel, allowing the Israel Defense Forces to exercise operational control over both sides of the fence.

Ban reported, however, that there has been no progress regarding the divided Israeli Arab town of Ghajar, which straddles the border, and that talks on security arrangements in the area have reached a dead end.

In addition, Ban criticized Israel in the report for failing to provide complete information on the location of cluster bombs fired during the war, and has yet to end Israel Air Force overflights in Lebanese airspace.

The report also includes the previously unreleased findings of a UN mapping expert responsible for charging the disputed Shaba Farms area.

The Second Lebanon War erupted July 12, 2006 after Hezbollah abducted Israel Defense Forces soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev and killed three others in a cross-border raid.

Israel to UN: Hezbollah has tripled its land-to-sea missile arsenal

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Revealing such Intelligence Report to the UN is useless as they are impotent. Their own troops are NOT disarmining Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Through hezbollah, ayatollahist Iran has already invaded Lebanon. And Iran is doing the same thing in Hamastan and Fatahan. They have already dominated Shiitan in Iraq. Meanwhile, they are feverishly working on their nukes so that they think they can vaporize Israel and terrorize the world. Their aim is world domination through radicalization of the islamist-jihadists in the region and the world.

[Shammu]

IAF flyovers put Lebanon on high alert
JPost.com Staff
THE JERUSALEM POST
Nov. 2, 2007

The Lebanese army has raised its level of alert over the past 24 hours due to abnormal IAF activity over its territory, Israel Radio quoted Arab media as saying Friday.

According to the reports, Israeli aircraft carried out dummy runs over southern Lebanon and the Lebanese army fired at them in response.

The reports further stated that the UN had reinforced peacekeeper forces along the border and had appealed to Israel for calm.

On Thursday, it was reported that Lebanon had accused Israel of repeatedly violating the terms of UN resolution 1701 - the cease-fire agreement put in place following last summer's Second Lebanon War.

In a document sent to the UN, the Lebanese government claimed that in the past four months the IAF had flown more than 290 flyovers across the Lebanese border, while IDF ground forces had committed 52 violations on land.

Israel has admitted to the flyover violations, but said their purpose was to prevent the smuggling of weapons to Hizbullah along the Syrian border - also a violation of 1701.

"Hizbullah's weapons kill, the flights don't kill anyone," an IDF official told Army Radio on Thursday.

In addition, Lebanon says that over one million cluster bombs fired by Israel during the war were still unexploded and were endangering human life. According to the document, the Lebanese government is demanding that Israel disclose - with maps - which areas where specifically targeted with cluster bombs.

Finally, Israel was accused of not making a full withdrawal from the northern section of the village of Ghajar. In June, The Jerusalem Post reported that the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) were supposed to arrange security in the northern side of the village - which was to allow for the final withdrawal of IDF troops from the village. According to senior defense officials, it was Lebanon's refusal to sign an agreement brokered by UNIFIL that delayed the final withdrawal of IDF troops, saying that days before the deal was supposed to be signed the LAF pulled out of the agreement.

Since the cease-fire that ended last summer's war went into effect, UNIFIL and the Lebanese government have repeatedly called for an Israeli withdrawal, claiming that the IDF presence in the Alawite Muslim village was a severe violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701. Some 400 families, all holders of Israeli blue identity cards, live in the northern section of the village.

IAF flyovers put Lebanon on high alert

[Shammu]

Russia raps Saudi atomic fuel proposal for Iran
Fri Nov 2, 2007 8:35am EDT

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's nuclear chief on Friday said only full nuclear powers should create centers for enriching uranium, in a swipe at a Saudi proposal for Arab states to help supply Iran with enriched uranium.

U.S.-allied Gulf Arab states are ready to set up a body to provide enriched uranium to Iran in a bid to defuse Tehran's stand-off with the West over its nuclear plan, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister told a magazine this week.

Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries -- Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates -- have proposed creating a Middle East consortium for users of enriched uranium, Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal told the Middle East Economic Digest (MEED).

When asked about the report, Russia's nuclear energy agency chief Sergei Kiriyenko said Russia had received no official information about the proposal, RIA news agency reported.

"In our opinion there should be many such centers but it is obvious that such centers must be in countries which have the full technology for enrichment (of uranium) so that this technology doesn't spread around the world," Kiriyenko said.

Prince Saud said Iran was considering the offer. He said the enrichment plant should be in a neutral country, such as Switzerland.

In late 2005 Russia offered to create a joint centre with Iran to enrich uranium on Russian territory, but Iran sent conflicting signals about its intentions. Later, Tehran said it would produce nuclear fuel inside Iran.

The Kremlin says that Iran should not be pushed into a corner and opposes tougher sanctions but senior officials say Russia has no interest in seeing Iran get nuclear weapons.

Russia, which says there is no evidence that Tehran is trying to develop a nuclear bomb, fears that a U.S. invasion of Iran could provoke a wider conflict in the Middle East.

Russia raps Saudi atomic fuel proposal for Iran

[Shammu]

Iran warns Europe against sanctions
Associated Press
THE JERUSALEM POST
Nov. 1, 2007

Hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday warned European countries not to follow the US lead in imposing unilateral sanctions against his country, state radio reported.

Ahmadinejad threatened unspecified retaliation by Iran if Europe followed in the footsteps of the United States, which last week announced sanctions against the Islamic state.

"If they plan to cooperate with the enemy of the Iranian nation, we cannot interpret this as a friendly behavior. We will show reaction," the radio quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.

Meanwhile, US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns told reporters that Washington wants a third UN Security Council sanctions resolution passed as soon as possible.

He also said the US wants the European Union to push forward with further sanctions against Iran, and urged Iran's major trading partners to cut back business with Teheran to send a strong message.

"Our view is that all of that should happen as soon as possible so that Iran gets the message that as long as it's defying the Security Council, which it currently is, and not cooperating fully with the IAEA ... then there's going to be a price to what Iran does," he said. "And that price will be increased isolation and heightened sanctions."

The US measure bans dealings with a host of companies connected to Iran's Revolutionary Guards, an elite force that has extensive business holdings in oil, construction and other sectors.

It also prohibits American companies from working with the Guards-linked Iranian companies and puts pressure on international firms and banks not to deal with them as well.

Ahmadinejad spoke after a ceremony inaugurating a petrochemical complex in the southern port of Asalouyeh, some 1,500 kilometers south of the capital, Teheran.

"You, Europeans, know well what will happen in the economic sphere if Iran takes a serious move in this matter," the Iranian leader said.

IRNA, the state official news agency, also quoted Ahmdinejad as saying: "You, Europe, need us more" - a veiled reference to business ties between Teheran and European nations.

According to official statistics Europe is Iran's largest trading partner, with over 40 percent of Iran's imports coming from European Union countries. Also, many European energy companies have been working in Iran's attractive energy market, which is the second oil producer among OPEC countries.

Ahmadinejad also spoke against a new, third round of UN sanctions, saying that "enemies of Iran should know that the era of unanimous (UN) resolutions against the Iranian nation has passed."

Iran is counting on international support from Russia and China - permanent UN Security Council members - to prevent harsher UN sanctions. The UN has imposed two rounds of limited sanctions for Iran's refusal to suspend uranium enrichment, a process which can be used for both nuclear fuel for electricity power plant and weapon.

Russia and China have resisted a third round of sanctions.

IRNA said Ahmadinejad called sanctions against his country a "ridiculous story."

Burns noted that Iran did not accept an offer last week from EU's Javier Solana to negotiate, saying Teheran had "chosen the route of sanctions."

"We hope that Iran will reconsider, suspend its enrichment program and come to negotiations with the United States and with the other countries" on the Security Council, Burns said.

"That offer is on the table but Iran continues to refuse it," he said.

Burns, in Vienna for two days, is to meet Thursday with Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Burns said it was important for the UN Security Council and the Vienna-based IAEA to be "tied together."

"Dr. ElBaradei has made statements in the past that would seem to indicate that sanctions might not work or that enrichment is not going to be suspended and obviously as co-authors of Security Council resolutions, we take some issue with that," Burns said.

"I think the real problem here is not Dr. ElBaradei or the United States - it's Iran," Burns said.

Iran warns Europe against sanctions

[Shammu]

Gulf Arabs To Offer Uranium To Iran

Gulf states are willing to set up a body to provide enriched uranium to Iran, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister is reported to have said.

Prince Saud al-Faisal told the Middle East Economic Digest (MEED) the plan could defuse Tehran's stand-off with the West over its nuclear programme.

The prince was quoted as saying that Iran was considering the Gulf states' offer, but the US was not involved.

The BBC's Paul Reynolds says it is doubtful the plan will go anywhere.

It is similar to one proposed by Russia in December 2005, which led to initially positive talks between Moscow and Tehran, but in the end led nowhere, says our world affairs correspondent.

'An interesting idea'

Prince Saud said the offer came from the six states that make up the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) - Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

"We have proposed a solution, which is to create a consortium for all users of enriched uranium in the Middle East," he was quoted as saying.

"[We will] do it in a collective manner through a consortium that will distribute according to needs, give each plant its own necessary amount, and ensure no use of this enriched uranium for atomic weapons."

He outlined the plan in an interview for the MEED during Saudi King Abdullah's state visit to London.

Prince Saud said the GCC had developed the proposal to stave off a nuclear arms race in the Gulf.

Iran says its nuclear programme is for civilian energy purposes, but the US claims Tehran is developing nuclear weapons.

Prince Saud is reported to have said: "They [the Iranians] have responded that it is an interesting idea and they will come back to us.

"The US is not involved, but I don't think it would be hostile to this, and it would resolve a main area of tension between the West and Iran."

The UK foreign office said the five permanent UN Security Council members - the US, China, Russia, France and Britain - along with Germany would meet on Friday in London to discuss the next step on Iran's nuclear programme.

Gulf Arabs To offer Uranium To Iran

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Gulf Arabs To offer Uranium To Iran

Well with friends like this, who needs enemies??

[Shammu]

Iran bank chief warns Ahmadinejad on money supply
Thu. 01 Nov 2007

TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran's new central bank governor has warned the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over money supply growth, urging measures to prevent a further rise in inflation, the press reported Thursday.

"The government, the private sector and anyone who cares about the nation's economy should prevent the increase of liquidity," said Tahmasb Mazaheri, quoted by most moderate Iranian newspapers.

"It has an inflationary impact and it will lead to higher prices," said Mazaheri, who was appointed in September as part of a wide-ranging economic reshuffle by Ahmadinejad.

At the end of May 2007, the central bank said money supply had grown by a colossal year-on-year rate of 39.4 percent.

Mazaheri said money supply in Iran is currently running at the equivalent of 140 billion dollars, double the average for the year 2005-2006 which was 70 billion dollars.

He complained that the central bank in the past had dipped into its reserves to offer credit lines to Iranian banks -- causing liquidity to rocket higher -- and in future would be stricter with allocating loans.

"The banks should not rely on the central bank when it comes to handing out credits since last year it caused the increase in the liquidity."

Mazaheri also cautioned: "The decrease in the liquidity will not happen overnight."

The huge growth in money supply has added to fears over prices in the Islamic republic which have surged in recent weeks, especially for basic foodstuffs and services, hitting the poor hardest.

Iran's year-on-year inflation is currently 15.8 percent, according to the central bank. However, many economists dispute this and Iranian parliamentary research has estimated that inflation this year will be 22.4 percent.

Many economists in Iran have accused Ahmadinejad of stoking inflation problems by ploughing windfall revenues from high oil prices into local infrastructure projects promised on provincial visits.

But the government insists it is merely fulfilling Ahmadinejad's election promises of making ordinary people feel the benefits of oil wealth and has inflation under control.

Iran bank chief warns Ahmadinejad on money supply

[Shammu]

Jordan's king holds Middle East talks with Pakistan

23 hours ago

ISLAMABAD (AFP) — Jordan's King Abdullah II and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf held talks on the situation in the Middle East, officials said Thursday.

The Jordanian monarch, who arrived here Thursday on a day-long visit from China, also discussed bilateral ties between the two Muslim countries, a foreign ministry statement said.

The two leaders "held in-depth discussions on the situation in the Middle East... including efforts to revive the Middle East peace process by the Arab League and Quartet members," the statement added.

The two sides expressed concern over the deteriorating security situation in Iraq, which is plagued by sectarian and ethnic divides and blighted by attacks on holy shrines.

"These have ominous implications for the long-term political and strategic security and stability of the country," the statement said.

Musharraf, a key US ally, also briefed Abdullah on Pakistan's efforts in the fight against terrorism and extremists.

Jordan's state-run Petra news agency quoted the king as telling Musharraf: "Jordan supports Pakistan's efforts to fight terror, which targets the country's security and stability."

In China, Abdullah urged Beijing to play a greater role in the Middle East and met President Hu Jintao.

Musharraf visited Jordan in January for talks with Abdullah on ways to bolster bilateral ties and to review efforts to restore peace and stability in the Middle East.

In July, Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood condemned the Pakistani army's siege and storming of the Al-Qaeda-linked Red Mosque in Islamabad, an operation that cost more than 100 lives.

Jordan's king holds Middle East talks with Pakistan

[Shammu]

Abbas holds rare meeting with Hamas

By DALIA NAMMARI, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 28 minutes ago

RAMALLAH, West Bank - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with members of Hamas on Friday for the first time since the militant group ousted his forces and took over the Gaza Strip in June.

Abbas' aides described the meeting with four West Bank-based Hamas members as an informal gathering after Friday prayers at Abbas' presidential compound, saying it was not an official contact between the two movements. Abbas has repeatedly said he would have no contact with Hamas until it cedes power in Gaza.

But one of the Hamas men, Hussein Abu Quaik, said Abbas invited them to prayers.

"Everybody in Hamas knew about this," Abu Quaik said. "This will contribute to strengthening our relationship, and lay the basis for national unity, God willing."

Nasser al-Shaer, who was deputy prime minister in the Hamas-led unity government that broke apart after the Gaza takeover, said the group discussed "internal affairs in an open atmosphere" with Abbas, but added that the visit was "not a meeting between Hamas and the President."

For the Hamas men, Friday's meeting appeared to be an attempt to distance themselves from their movement's members in Gaza, where a Hamas leader said this week that Abbas would soon be deposed and that the Islamic group would take over the West Bank as it did Gaza.

Israeli government spokesman David Baker said Israel objected to any contacts with Hamas.

"It's Israel's position that Hamas should be sidelined and kept out of the game until it accepts the conditions placed upon it by the international community," Baker said. Those conditions are recognizing Israel, renouncing violence, and agreeing to respect past peace agreements. Hamas has refused to meet any of the conditions.

Israel has said that if Abbas renews ties with the Islamic group — which remains openly committed to Israel's destruction — it will break off peace talks with the Palestinians.

Ahmed Abdel Rahman, an Abbas adviser, denied the Hamas men had been invited by Abbas, and reiterated that Abbas would resume contacts with Hamas only if it apologized for the Gaza takeover and withdrew from security installations there.

The Hamas men came to express their "rejection" of their counterparts in Gaza, Abdel Rahman said.

"The four members expressed their commitment to the legitimacy and the authority of Abbas ... and reiterated their respect for law and order," he said.

Hamas members in the West Bank have been increasingly cowed since their movement's June takeover in Gaza. After his forces were routed in Gaza, Abbas ordered a clampdown on Hamas in the West Bank, arresting hundreds of activists, closing Hamas-linked charities and issuing an anti-money laundering decree meant to dry up donations to the group.

Abbas holds rare meeting with Hamas

[Shammu]

Why Turks no longer love the U.S.

By Yigal Schleifer Thu Nov 1, 4:00 AM ET

Istanbul, Turkey - The US has hailed Turkey as moderate Islamic democracy, the kind it would like to see develop elsewhere. It's a key NATO ally, with US aircraft stationed here.

Yet, as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrives in Ankara Friday to defuse tensions over Kurdish rebels operating in Iraq, she faces a nation that is now the most anti-American in the world, according to one survey. In the meetings with Ms. Rice, and next Monday in Washington with President Bush, Turkey's prime minister is expected to press the US to take steps against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebels in Iraq.

That might help soften attitudes here toward the US. But given the depth of anti-American feeling that has developed in just the past few years, few expect Turkish public opinion to turn quickly.

In a recent global survey by the Pew Research Center, only 9 percent of Turks held a favorable view of the United States (down from 52 percent in 2000), a figure that placed Turkey at the rock bottom of the 46 countries surveyed.

"People have become accustomed to this plot line of America being a threat to Turkish national security. This was inconceivable five years ago, but now it has come to be the prevailing view," says Ihsan Dagi, a professor of international relations at Ankara's Middle East Technical University.

That perception has been reinforced in the past two years by some of Turkey's most popular books and films which portray the US and Turkey at odds – if not at war. Turkey's all-time box office champ, 2006's "Valley of the Wolves," saw a ragtag Turkish force square off heroically against a whole division of bloodthirsty American soldiers in northern Iraq.

"Metal Storm," a bestselling political fantasy book from the year before, went even further, describing an all out war between Ankara and Washington in the not so distant future (the year 2007, to be exact), in which Turkey ultimately prevails with the help of Russia and the European Union.

Analysts say the public's mood represents a trend that has worrying implications for the future health of the ties between the two NATO allies.

"The public is really convinced that the United States is no longer a friend and ally. That is really frustrating," says Professor Dagi.

Real life events have also done little to improve America's image in Turkey. The recent passage by a US congressional committee of a resolution recognizing the mass killing of Armenians in the final days of the Ottoman Empire as a genocide – something Turkey strongly rejects – set public opinion aflame.

At the same time, the renewed attacks on Turkish forces by PKK guerrillas have only strengthened the widespread belief that Washington is doing little to get rid of the PKK in northern Iraq. Ankara has been building up its troops on the Iraqi border and threatening an invasion, something Washington strongly opposes.

"The clearest fact is that the real threats against Turkey come not from its neighbors, but from its 'allies' and each new development brings Turkey face to face with its Western allies," Ali Bulac, a columnist for the liberal-Islamic Zaman newspaper, recently wrote. "The United States ... is taking its place on the stage as the force behind the PKK."

Says Gunduz Aktan, a former Turkish ambassador who is currently a parliamentarian with the right-wing Nationalist Action Party (MHP): "The entire Turkish public opinion now is one of frustration and exasperation and a kind of acute expectation of the US to do something meaningful and concrete [on the PKK issue] and to understand the problem that we have in Turkey."

But experts say Turkey's growing anti-Americanism also has a domestic element. The success of the Islamic-rooted ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has forced Turkey to confront the issue of how to reconcile secularism with Islam, while the renewal of PKK violence has again brought to the surface the decades-long struggle to square a strong national Turkish identity with the country's diverse ethnic identities.

"Turkey is caught right now between East and West, between Islam and secularism, between Kurdish and Turkish nationalism," says Omer Taspinar, director of the Turkey program at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank. "Since the cold war ended, we are living in an era where all the problems that defined the Turkish Republic in the early years are back, and Turkey is blaming the West for this."

The Rice visit and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's trip to the White House on Nov. 5 are part of an effort to stave off any further deterioration in US-Turkish relations. "I will openly tell him [President George Bush] that we expect concrete, immediate steps against the terrorists," Mr. Erdogan recently told parliamentarians from his party. "The problem of the PKK terrorist organization is a test of sincerity for everybody," he said. "This test carries great importance for the region and in determining the fate of our future relations."

Observers inside and outside Turkey say Ankara could play a role in easing regional tensions by dropping its objections to speaking directly with the Kurdish Regional Government in northern Iraq and its leader, Massoud Barzani.

But METU's Dagi says that without American action on the PKK front, there is little Ankara can do to defuse the public's growing dislike of the US.

"The government has somehow been taken hostage by this public mood," he says. "The first thing is to deal with this mood, and in that America has to contribute something."

Why Turks no longer love the U.S.

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Why Turks no longer love the U.S.

They are muslim, nuft said.

It seems the alliances are being prepared for Gog/Magog.