Turkey says no need for buffer zone inside Iraq

Ankara: Turkey has no need at present to set up a buffer zone in northern Iraq to halt cross--border raids by Kurdish guerrillas, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday.

His statment came in response to opposition calls for such a move. Turkish opposition nationalist parties and retired generals have been floating the idea of setting up a buffer zone for at least two years, but have stepped up calls since the latest attacks in which 17 soldiers were killed.

Erdogan's comments follow a warning from a senior Iraqi Kurdish official against Turkey stationing troops inside Iraq, saying it would not stop attacks by Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels.

Turkey's parliament last week approved a government request to give the military the green light to carry out operations against PKK bases in northern Iraq for another year, days after a cross-border attack killed 17 soldiers.

"At the moment there is no need for a buffer zone. Whatever is necessary is being done," Erdogan told reporters in Ankara when asked about the opposition calls.

He said 167 military installations would be established by the end of 2009 at a cost of 250-300 million lira ($180-210 million) as part of efforts to tighten up security in the region.

A Turkish foreign ministry delegation is scheduled to meet Iraq leaders in Baghdad on Tuesday amid strained ties between Iraq and Turkey, which accuses its neighbour of not doing enough to combat the separatists.