Turkey warns of military incursion into Iraq to chase PKK militants
Xinhua | October 10, 2007
Turkey issued a fresh warning of cross-border incursion into northern Iraq to chase separatist rebels of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
A statement voiced the warning at the end of a high-level security meeting chaired by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
"The government has given orders and instructions to the competent authorities to take all legal, economic and political measures, including a cross-border operation if necessary, to end the presence of the terrorist organization in a neighboring country," said the statement.
The warning came after the PKK rebels killed 15 soldiers in weekend attacks.
Earlier on Monday, the Turkish authorities also issued a statement vowing to counter terrorism until peace and security is ensured all over the country.
President Abdullah Gul, Prime Minister Erdogan and Chief of General Staff Gen. Yasar Buyukanit voiced the determination after their tripartite meeting in the Presidential Palace.
"Turkish security forces will fight against terrorism. We will take all required measures to counter it," said the statement, reaffirming the need for international sensitivity, cooperation and determination to combat terrorism.
The PKK has increased its attacks on government troops in southeastern Turkey, which led to rising Turkish demands for an incursion into northern Iraq to crush the rebels based there.
The group, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, launched an armed campaign for an ethnic homeland in the mainly Kurdish southeastern Turkey in 1984, sparking decades of strife that has claimed more than 30,000 lives.
