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Wednesday's vote was emphatic, with 507 in favor and only 19 against. The government now has the green light for one year to order a military incursion into northern Iraq.

Prime Minister Recip Tayyip Erdogan had been under severe pressure to take action in the light of a series of deadly assaults by members of the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which

have killed 30 soldiers over the past two weeks.

Commentators in Germany assess the risks of a possible military incursion for Turkey -- and for Kurds in northern Iraq.

"If Turkey marches into northern Iraq then it's already clear who will profit the most: the PKK."

"Naturally the state can't sit by and watch as the guerrillas kill dozens of soldiers, police officers and civilians. But it should be clear to political elites in Turkey that after spending

25 years trying to achieve a military victory over the PKK, with no avail, that political decisions are now required."

"The Kurds are still not treated as a group with equal rights, and there is still no substantial accommodation of the Kurds in the ongoing debate about a new constitution. That would be

essential to isolate the PKK from the majority of Kurds and to deprive them of their political base."

"Instead, Turkey is falling for the PKK's escalation logic. Attacks are only to be met with military force, while Kurdish and Turkish nationalism provoke each other. An invasion of northern

Iraq would finally transform a national conflict into an international crisis."

"There is a danger that developments here could push the peaceful and prosperous northern Iraq into a new chaos."

"This can only be prevented if the US and Europe clearly signal to Turkey that they take the PKK problem seriously, and will contribute to its solution …. An incursion into northern Iraq

could lead to a string of new conflicts, particularly if the well-armed Iraqi Kurds perceive it as interfering in their affairs."

"A unilateral Turkish invasion has to be prevented. But that will only succeed if the US and Europe offer political help in eradicating the PKK … The Europeans should bear in mind that this

is about a region that at some point could form the external borders of the EU."

"The Turkish concerns are justified. A sovereign state cannot accept resistance fighters like the PKK entrenching themselves long-term in the Iraqi mountains and preparing attacks on Turkish

soil."

"The current alarm is not just about Ankara's justified wish to better protect itself from terrorism. The increasingly pronounced Kurdish nationalism in northern Iraq is a thorn in Turkey's

side. It is directed at Turkey as well as the central Iraqi government."

"The Kurds have so far made clever use of their historic opportunity … Now they have to remain clever and take care not to endanger their own project … The regional government in northern

Iraq has to do more against Kurdish extremists, and would do well to discourage their nationalist rhetoric. The Turks know an invasion would only cause them difficulties. But the Kurds would

be better off trying not to provoke it."

"The only people who will be happy are the fighters in the PKK terror group ... The aged guerrillas have grown frustrated. They have been losing their Kurdish political base in Turkey ever

since the government in Ankara finally started to economically develop the country's southeast. In the latest parliamentary elections almost half of the Kurds voted for the governing AKP …

This new alliance can only be broken by terror. That is why the PKK are bombing again and the Turkish media is showing soldier's funerals every day. The government has yielded to this

pressure, and fallen into the terrorists' trap."

"Whoever wants to see to the end of the PKK has to approach the Kurds politically, not wage war on them."