Turkey-Israel-US: Intelligence, Politics, and the Raid into Iraq

The recent clash between the Kurdish separatist PKK and the Turkish military have prompted a series of questions.

How could 250 separatists gather and attack a military post while the Turkish forces were continuing operations up to three kilometres inside Iraq? Military experts have given different view:

Turkey: Kurdish Insurgents Kill 11 Soldiers

- The 250 may not have crossed the border on the same day. They might have crossed in clusters of two or three people.

- Turkey's unmanned aerial vehicles, Herons, cannot always detect small groups.

- Due to rain and fog, thermal cameras might have not detected the movement. Insurgents might have wet their clothes to avoid detection by thermal cameras and Herons.

- The Northern Iraqi administration does not share intelligence with Turkey.

Then Turkish media asked,  "Why did U.S.A not share intelligence with Turkey?" Military experts said that information gathered by Washington's own unmanned aerial vehicles goes directly to a US centre. Then it comes to the trilateral coordination centre  in Erbil, northern Iraq, and the final destination is the General Staff in Turkey. The process takes some time.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz said, "Spat or not, Turkey is still using Israeli technology in attacks on Kurdish PKK rebels." Turkish experts have said that they can still use the Heron aircraft despite Israelis recalling their operators. However, the same experts add, "It is not clear whether the six Herons of Turkey have permission to control the Northern Iraqi airspace."

According to Haaretz, the Herons were used in Iraqi airspace. The newspaper continues:

Turkey reported late last week that during operations in May, its forces killed some 130 Kurdish militants in Iraqi territory; it described this as an impressive achievement against terrorism.

Haaretz quotes Turkish officials saying "no decision has been made to formally freeze deals with Israel".

The newspaper pays attention to the dispute between Turkish Foreign Ministry and the bureaucracy of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) bureaucracy. "Turkey does not want to lose what it gained on the international front from the flotilla incident," a source at the Turkish Foreign Ministry told Haaretz. "But it is important to remember that the Prime Minister is operating on the basis of internal political considerations, not only a cool analysis of Turkish interests on the international level."

Meanwhile, Turkish Prime Minister Recap Tayyip Erdogan again targeted Israeli officials again. He said, "Turkey's problem is with Israel's government, not its people" and added:

We have not remained silent against this piracy and injustice, and we will not do so, and we will seek solutions within the framework of international law.

Israel's Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov responded, "The Turkish people aren't the enemy, but Erdogan is Israel's enemy."