Turkey Faces Opposition in Bid To Send More Troops into Northern Iraq

The European Commission warns any such move would damage Turkey’s efforts to join the European Union. British Prime Minister Tony Blair says a Turkish deployment in northern Iraq would be in his words "entirely unacceptable."
The United States and European governments fear Turkish deployment could lead to fighting between Turkish soldiers and Iraqi Kurds.
Sunday, President Bush reiterated U.S. opposition to any unilateral movement of Turkish troops into Kurdish areas. U.S. officials have indicated that any Turkish deployment into the area should come in coordination with American forces opening up a northern front against the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein.
Iraqi Kurds have threatened to use force if Turkish troops try to enter their semi-autonomous region. Turkey fears that Iraqi Kurds may try to declare an independent state and spark an uprising by Turkey’s own Kurdish population.
Kurds have been running their own affairs in northern Iraq since the end of the first Gulf war in 1991.