Turkey

Turkey Has Invaded Iraq

Seriously. It really has.

I mention this only because it doesn’t appear to be on the front page of the Guardian, or the BBC, or any other newspaper. So you may well have missed it.

It isn’t a minor border skirmish. It is a major military operation:

A major Turkish military offensive is continuing in northern Iraq, following a deadly attack by Kurdish rebels inside Turkey.

Ankara said 22 battalions, or about 10,000 soldiers, were taking part in the operation in northern Iraq and also south-eastern Turkey.

The troops – including commandos and paramilitary forces – are being backed by war planes and helicopters.

On Tuesday, Kurdish PKK rebels killed 24 soldiers near the Iraqi border.

The attacks in Hakkari province are thought to have inflicted the biggest loss on Turkish forces since 1993 and President Abdullah Gul has vowed to avenge them.

In a statement on Thursday, the Turkish military said that 22 battalions were involved in the operation.

It said the ground troops were being reinforced by F-16 and F-4 jets and Cobra helicopter gunships.

This will not result in large demonstrations in the streets of London, Early Day Motions in Parliament, interventions by charities and lobby groups, UN resolutions, conferences at universities, calls for boycotts and sanctions, aid convoys, or anything like that.

It appears to be largely unnoticed.

Last year, Erdogan promised that the Kurdish rebels would “drown in their own blood“.