Region | Iraq
Turkey serious about North Iraq incursion, says minister
Turkey is serious about sending troops into northern Iraq to hunt down Kurdish separatist rebels hiding there, a senior minister said on Friday.
- Agencies
- Published: 14:45 October 19, 2007
Ankara: Turkey is serious about sending troops into northern Iraq to hunt down Kurdish separatist rebels hiding there, a senior minister said on Friday.
Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek said in a newspaper interview, "We have made the decision and we will do what is necessary. We are not reluctant. There is no going back on this."
Cicek, who oversees the coordination of Turkey's counter-terrorism efforts, said "military needs" would dictate the timing and scope of any army operation.
Turkey's parliament approved a motion on Wednesday allowing its troops to launch cross-border incursions, defying appeals from the United States and Baghdad. The Pentagon then angered Turkey by suggesting Ankara lacked the appetite for action.
The parliamentary motion, backed by the majority of Turkey's parliamentarians, is valid for one year but sets out no timetable for military action. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has implied that military operations are not imminent.
Turkey's government is under heavy public pressure to act after a series of deadly attacks by rebels of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) on Turkish troops.
Some 3,000 PKK rebels are believed to be hiding in mountainous, mainly Kurdish northern Iraq, a region they use as a launchpad for attacks on Turkish security targets.
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