Turkey chiefs eye Kurdish thrust

In the past days statements by the army chief and by the foreign minister appeared to pull Turkey back from an imminent incursion across the border.
A top US general, Henry Osman, also visited the border area.
There are also reports of plans to establish a Turkish-American co-ordination centre at the Habur gate, close to the main road from Turkey into Iraq.
The changing situation on the ground is being studied closely by Turkey.

Kurdish promise
In particular, officials may be alarmed by Thursday’s news of an advance by Kurdish peshmerga – or volunteer – fighters on the key oil city of Kirkuk after Iraqi forces withdrew.
An agreement was signed recently between Kurdish opposition leaders and Turkish officials under which Kurdish parties promised not to enter Kirkuk.
Turkey has said repeatedly that could be the trigger for sending its own troops in.
Weeks of intense US-led diplomacy have focused on trying to avoid a confrontation between the Turks and Kurds, its main allies in the region.