Turkey has been operating in Northern Iraq since the Persian Gulf War. Much of the operations have been against Kurdish elements. This is why Saddam hasn't cared much about this activity. Now it looks more like these operations are for laying the ground work for future actions against Bagdad. Turkey has come to a sort of a truce with the Kurds in its own country.
yeah Northern Iraq is no man's land. It is within Iraq's territory but for the last 20 years or so Turkish commandos have been operating there to fight the Kurdish opposition forces. Saddam did not care about these movements at all. the key is Baghdad.