As fighting in northern Iraq continues into its sixth day, Turkish jets hit up to 30 targets as helicopter gunships and artillery maintained intense fire throughout the day. The Turkish military has reported that more than 150 PKK fighters have been killed and only 17 Turkish soldiers have died on their side. The PKK rejected Turkey’s number, saying they have killed 81 soldiers.

“This is a serious escalation of events, and it is extremely worrying and destabilizing for our country,” said Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, who claims the operation is a violation of Iraq’s sovereignty. “We have asked the Turkish government to order its troops to withdraw as soon as possible.”

As expected, Washington avoided any real criticism of Turkey for invading the supposedly sovereign nation of Iraq. Rather, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino expressed her hopes and dreams for the future by stating, “We hope that this is just a short-term incursion.” The PKK is fighting for autonomy in predominantly Kurdish southeastern Turkey by carrying out attacks from bases in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq. Since 1984, the conflict has claimed around 40,000 lives.

On Sunday, a PKK fighter commander had urged Kurds living in Turkish cities to rise up and fight the authorities. The following day, violence broke out in the southern Turkish city of Diyarbakir between Turkish police and Kurds demonstrating against the offensive. Kurdish protesters threw stones as police threw tear gas and fired their guns into the air.

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