The Turkish government has formally sought authorization from the Turkish parliament to invade northern Iraq and attack Kurdish rebel groups. The Turkish parliament is widely expected to approve the authorization later this week. A spokesperson for the Turkish Cabinet said an attack is not imminent.

Cemil Cicek: “A permission request from the government to have an over-border operation has been sent to Turkish parliament with the signatures of the prime minister and all other ministers today. … Our wish is not to use this motion. I hope we will not need this. But as you all know, the most painful reality of our country and our region is the reality of terror.”

Meanwhile, Turkey’s actions have caused alarm throughout the Middle East. The Iraqi government urged Turkey to be “patient” and not to resort to military action. On Monday, the price of oil shot up to a record high of $86 a barrel. Energy analyst Julian Lee linked the spike in oil prices to the situation in Turkey.

Julian Lee, senior energy analyst, Center for Global Energy Studies: “I think the immediate concern is Turkey’s threats over possible military action in northern Iraq in response to incursions that it has seen that it believes are emanating from that part of the country. Although that’s unlikely to have any impact on the bulk of Iraqi production, which comes from the south of the country, all of the increases that we’ve seen from Iraq in the last couple of months have come from production at the northern fields and, importantly, have been exported via a pipeline that runs through Turkey.”