[Madpaddy]

None of the major news agencies are reporting this yet. get it up on the front page of the site quick guys.

[Ebyss]

Now - I always get duped by false taglines - so I'll be the dunce here : is this for real?

[Madpaddy]

This unfortunately seems to be the real deal Ebyss. Debka is a pretty reputable website. Still trying to confirm. Reuters, BBC or CNN are not reporting it yet.

[Grifter]

It was in the FT the day before yesterday that the US was trying to persuade Turkey not to invade, but that they felt sympathetic.

[Ebyss]

Bugger.

[roccman]

Turkey denies it:

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L06904032.htm

From Leanan at TOD

[gg3]

It is being reported unambiguously in Debka.

OTOH, Debka is Israeli intel propaganda, so it has to be taken with reasonable skepticism. On some topics they're quite good, but one can never be certain when they're bending the facts to fit the theory.

And there is nothing in the mainstream news at this point.

Ten points to Madpaddy for finding this before anyone else did. OTOH no hard feelings if it turns out that Debka was full of poo.

---

Meanwhile, if this is really going on, it is a Very Bad Thing. Expansion of the war.

And the Kurds were apparently the most reasonable and pro-Western faction in Iraq.

[Madpaddy]

Okay

www.cihannews.com seems to be in a heap. There is a report saying EU negociator says Turkish incursion off the table but there is breaking news of a bomb attack in Ankara. My wild guess is that tis invasion has been set in motion by a bomb attack in Ankara and the news hasn't caught up yet...

[Bas]

Debka quotes Cihan news as the source, but Cihan does not report an invasion.

[Madpaddy]

Okay,

No confirmation on this story. Bas is correct, cihannews is not reporting any such incursion and the bomb attack may be from 2 weeks ago and the site has not been updated. Debka seems to be reporting inaccurately...

[Madpaddy]

cihannews is now reporting a massive Turkish offensive in the South East of Turkey.

Kurds would also refer to this as Kurdistan. Some truth to the rumour after all.

Let's all keep a listening watch and fill up the car ASAP.

[Bas]

yup, and it's with those 50,000 troops Debka mentioned earlier, I doubt they'll end up crossing the border with Iraq though as similar offensives in the past never resulted into that, but it is a possibility.

[Madpaddy]

Anything on a bomb attack in Ankara, Bas.

[evilgenius]

F**k me. If the Turks timed this to coincide with the G8 they were right that it would be covered up. I have had the tv on all day watching stock channels and there has been no mention of this. As soon as I was able to check the Israeli and Turkish sites on my own I did a sweep through the channels. There is still no mention of it.

[Last_Laff]

"Several thousand Turkish troops crossed into northern Iraq early today to chase Kurdish guerrillas who operate from bases there, Turkish security officials told The Associated Press."

CNN is flashing its breaking news now...

[eastbay]

No mention of this from al Jazeera (English), Reuters, CNN, or BBC.

... still waiting.

[Madpaddy]

Chalk it down guys.

PO.com beats CNN, reuters and bbc for even the mainstream news.

Unfortunately, I've wasted my whole day and will have to start work early tomorrow. I'm going home to watch this develop.

Handing over to you, my fellow internet journalists. This is madpaddy until the 1000hrs news bulletin.

[Aaron]

Scooping the MSM since 2004... peakoil.com

Your energy & geopolitical news source.

Suck It Platts & Yahoo

[Madpaddy]

Okay,I'm definitely off after this.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/06/ ... index.html

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- Several thousand Turkish troops crossed into northern Iraq early Wednesday to chase Kurdish guerrillas who operate from bases there, Turkish security officials said.

Two senior security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, said the raid was limited in scope and that it did not constitute the kind of large incursion that Turkish leaders have been discussing in recent weeks.

Only about 3 hours after us, not bad eh.

[eastbay]

No mention of this from al Jazeera (English), Reuters, CNN, or BBC.

... still waiting.