by Laura Conaway

Tune in, log on, open your ears, etc.: Thursday morning, we'll talk to Dr. David Cuthell, executive director of Institute of Turkish Studies. He'll be delving into the situation with Turkey, which is rattling sabers outside Kurdish-controlled region of northern Iraq.

For now, a little preview of a big, big deal:

The European Commission said on Wednesday it hoped Turkey would respect Iraq's territorial integrity after the Turkish prime minister said his government was drawing up plans to authorise a military incursion.

A major military incursion into northern Iraq, to crush Kurdish rebels using the region as a base, would strain ties with the United States and the European Union, which Ankara hopes to join, and could undermine regional stability.