TURKEY: PM Tayyip Erdogan says Turkish army land offensive into North Iraq is limited to PKK Kurdish rebel camps
Record ID:
784673
TURKEY: PM Tayyip Erdogan says Turkish army land offensive into North Iraq is limited to PKK Kurdish rebel camps
- Title: TURKEY: PM Tayyip Erdogan says Turkish army land offensive into North Iraq is limited to PKK Kurdish rebel camps
- Date: 23rd February 2008
- Summary: (W3) DIYARBAKIR, TURKEY (FEBRUARY 22, 2008) (REUTERS) F-16 JETS TAKING OFF AT DIYARBAKIR MILITARY AIRPORT CLOSE OF F-16 FLYING AWAY ANOTHER F-16 TAKING OFF AT DIYARBAKIR MILITARY AIRPORT CLOSE OF F-16 FLYING AWAY
- Embargoed: 9th March 2008 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Turkey
- Country: Turkey
- Topics: International Relations
- Reuters ID: LVA7962BLU0ZDCU9HDPZUX9W53DI
- Story Text: Turkish troops have crossed into northern Iraq in their hunt for Kurdish PKK guerrillas, the military said on Friday (February 22), but the United States and the European Union urged Ankara to keep the campaign limited.
"The target of the cross-border operation which has been or will be launched by Turkish Ermed Forces is aimed at terrorist camps in northern Iraq. We bear no ill will to our brothers and friends the Iraqi people, neither will we in the future," Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at a news conference in Ankara.
Erdogan said he had briefed U.S. President George W. Bush by telephone on the land offensive, which began at 7 p.m. (1700 GMT) on Thursday (February 21).
"I have spoken with U.S. president Bush and informed him about operation. In the meantime, we are in touch with local administrations in northern Iraq about operation. Our armed forces will be back after they reach their targets," he said.
The White House confirmed the United States had been informed in advance of the incursion and urged Turkey to limit the operation to "precise targeting" of the PKK rebels hiding there.
Turkish TV said 3,000 to 10,000 soldiers had entered Iraq, but Iraq's foreign minister and a senior military official with coalition forces based in Baghdad denied it was a major operation, saying only a few hundred troops were involved.
The European Union repeated its call for Turkey, which is seeking EU membership, to refrain from any disproportionate military action.
"The Turkish Armed Forces, which attach great importance to Iraq's territorial integrity and stability, will return home in the shortest time possible after its goals have been achieved," the General Staff said in a statement posted on its Web site.
The General Staff did not specify the size of the operation.
A military source based in southeast Turkey told Reuters: "Thousands of troops have crossed the border and thousands more are waiting at the border to join them if necessary."
A PKK spokesman said rebels were battling Turkish troops.
"There are severe clashes. Two Turkish soldiers have been killed and eight wounded. There are no PKK casualties," Ahmed Danees, head of foreign relations for the PKK, told Reuters by satellite phone from an undisclosed location in northern Iraq.
It was not possible to independently verify his statement.
Iraq's foreign minister played down the operation.
"There has not been any major incursion or land invasion ... What is going on is around a few hundred Turkish forces have crossed the border looking for the PKK or their bases," Hoshiyar Zebari told Reuters by telephone.
A senior military officer with U.S.-led coalition forces based in Baghdad made a similar estimate of the number of troops involved. "A few hundred, at most," the source said.
Earlier, Rear Admiral Gregory Smith, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, said the operation was understood to be of "limited duration" and aimed solely at PKK fighters in the area.
NATO member Turkey says it has the right under international law to hit PKK rebels who shelter in northern Iraq and have mounted attacks inside Turkey that have killed scores of troops. Turkey says some 3,000 PKK rebels are based in Iraq.
Ankara blames the PKK for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people since it began an armed struggle for a Kurdish homeland in southeast Turkey in 1984.
Washington and the EU, like Turkey, classify the PKK as a terrorist organisation. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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