- Title: TURKEY/IRAQ: Turkish warplanes bomb northern Iraq
- Date: 25th December 2007
- Summary: (BN11) ANKARA, TURKEY, (DECEMBER 25, 2007) (REUTERS) TURKISH PRIME MINISTER RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN WALKING UP TO STAGE AND SHAKING HANDS BEFORE DELIVERING HIS SPEECH IN AKP HALL AT TURKISH PARLIAMENT AKP REPRESENTATIVES LISTENING TO ERDOGAN (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) TURKISH PRIME MINISTER RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN SAYING: "No matter who says what, we are using and continue to use ai
- Embargoed: 9th January 2008 12:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: International Relations
- Reuters ID: LVA8RRR0MHDUFZXK2ZVMUGOKMDVE
- Story Text: Turkish warplanes bomb northern Iraq near the border with Turkey.
Turkish warplanes bombed an area of Iraq near the border with Turkey on Tuesday (December 25), in the latest of a string of air and ground strikes on Kurdish separatists, Iraqi and Turkish sources said.
A Turkish military source said warplanes launched the limited strike after spotting Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas during a reconnaissance flight. He said the strike was smaller than others in recent weeks.
Colonel Hussein Tamar, director of Iraq's border guard command in the northern Kurdish province of Dahuk, said villages near the border were hit but nobody was hurt.
The area was depopulated because residents had fled earlier attacks this month, he said.
The Turkish military also said it killed five members of the PKK on Tuesday in an attack on the outlawed group within Turkey.
Turkey has repeatedly bombed areas of northern Iraq in pursuit of PKK rebels over the past few weeks. Ground troops have also made occasional cross-border raids, although a large-scale assault is seen as unlikely, especially in winter.
The Turkish general staff said on Tuesday that a strike it had launched on Dec. 16 had killed more than 150 PKK fighters.
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan defended the strikes on Tuesday, which he said targeted only PKK separatist guerrillas.
"No matter who says what, we are using and continue to use air and land operations within the framework of authority granted by international law," he said in a speech to his political party, without referring directly to Tuesday's strike.
"Nobody can object to that if Turkey is responding to attacks against its unity, brotherhood, civilians, uniforms, soldiers and police forces," the Prime Minister added.
Turkey says it has the right to pursue PKK guerrillas after the rebels carried out a string of deadly attacks in Turkey.
U.S. and Iraqi leaders say they support Turkey's right to hit back at the separatists, but want action to be limited in scale and co-ordinated to avoid destabilising northern Iraq. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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