Turkey Inside Line: Ankara's Attack in Iraq; Relations with Israel

Cross Border Operation: The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) announced on Wednesday that three commando divisions, supported with one special forces battalio,n followed PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) guerillas/terrorists up to 3 kilometres across the Iraqi border. It was stated that four PKK followers were killed.

This was the first operation since February 2008, when 240 guerillas/terrorists and 27 Turkish soldiers were killed.

Meanwhile, ten PKK members who returned to Turkey in October as part of the government’s initiative to resolve the Kurdish issue were arrested Thursday. Charges against the group were brought in two separate indictments: the festivities that welcomed them back to Turkey led to the allegation “being a member of a terrorist organization” and the statements they subsequently gave constituted “making propaganda for a terrorist organization”.

Turkish-Israeli Relations: Israeli Government officials persuaded activists, led by former member of Parliament Alex Goldfarb and Modi’in Meretz activist Pinhas Har-Zahav to cancel the voyage to northern Cyprus, in a "reverse flotilla" to protest those trying to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza.

Israeli officials were reportedly concerned that the manoeuvre ould remind international media of the Gaza flotilla when most attention had shifted to issues like the British Petroleum spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the World Cup.

In the United States, two lawmakers warned Turkey over its tension with Israel and its close relations with Iran. "There will be a cost if Turkey stays on its present heading of growing closer to Iran and more antagonistic to the state of Israel," Representative Mike Pence, the third-ranking Republican in the House of Representatives, said. Pence added that he was ready to reevaluate his past reluctance to support a congressional resolution denouncing World War I-era killings of Armenians by Ottoman forces as "genocide".

Democratic Representative Eliot Engel called Turkey's actions "disgraceful", adding that although Ankara was a member of NATO, it had stopped looking westward.

After Ankara's called its under-18 football team back from Israel, the European Volleyball Confederation announced on Thursday that four matches between Israeli and Turkish teams in women league have been canceled.

Turkey and Israel: How Serious is the Tension? (Yenidunya)

Last Thursday a group of angry Israelis, including former member of Parliament Alex Goldfarb and Meretz Party activist Pinhas Har-Zahav, announced that they will leave for Cyprus next week on a flotilla and call for an end to the Turkish occupation of the island.

On Saturday, the Lebanese newspaper al-Mustaqbal reported that  Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was willing to travel to the Gaza Strip to "break the Israeli blockade". The newspaper said that Washington told Erdogan to delay his plans.

Gaza Flotilla LiveBlog (7 June): Moving Beyond the Attack
Turkey Inside Line: Erdogan Roars at Israel, Extends His Hand to Iraqi Kurdistan

How to get out of this escalating political conflict? The Jerusalem Post reported a possibility after Rabbi Menachem Froman of Tekoa in the West Bank met Erdogan in Istanbul. Froman said that Erdogan is willing to help Israel secure the release of Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier detained by Hamas since 2006.

However, as he met Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad in Istanbul on Monday (and just before Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived today), Erdogan reiterated his position on Gaza: "The time has come to lift the embargo on Gaza. We don't want an open air prison in the world any more." He also stated that Turkey can give Gaza everything it needs if Israel lifts the siege.