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ANKARA, July 18 (AFP) - 15h49 - A senior
commander of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)
on Monday warned Turkey against any military
incursion into Iraq to hunt down PKK militants and
threatened to step up violence if it did so.
A cross-border operation into northern Iraq will
have "no result other than escalate the war," Murat
Karayilan, a leader of the outlawed PKK, was quoted
as saying on the website of the pro-Kurdish MHA news
agency.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said last week
that Turkey reserves the right to send troops into
Iraq to pursue PKK rebels hiding there, adding
however that there were no immediate plans for such
action.
Before the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, the
Turkish army regularly made incursions targeting PKK
militants into northern Iraq with tacit US approval
and ground support from Iraqi Kurds who control the
region.
The PKK, classified a terrorist organisation by the
United States and the European Union, retreated to
northern Iraq after the 1999 capture of its leader
Abdullah Ocalanin and declared a unilateral
ceasefire.
The PKK ended the truce in June 2004 and began
infiltrating back into Turkey, triggering a surge in
violence in the country's predominantly Kurdish
southeast.
Some 100 Turkish soldiers and PKK militants died in
a resurgence of violence in the region over the past
three months.
Karayilan said his rebels were showing restraint
fighting Turkish forces, but warned they would not
hesitate to step up their armed campaign if Turkey
escalates security operations.
On July 11, PKK rebels kidnapped a 21-year-old
Turkish soldier at a roadblock they set up in
Tunceli province, stopping about 40 vehicles and
robbing their occupants.
The rebels led the soldier into the nearby
mountains, triggering a huge security operation by
hundreds of troops, backed by helicopters.
Karayilan said the PKK was ready to release the
trooper on condition that Turkey halt the rescue
operation, MHA reported.
He said his group would hand over the soldier only
to organizations the PKK trusts, but did not name
any.
The July 11 incident was the first time in six years
that the PKK had set up a roadblock, a common
practice during the war between the army and the
separatist group that lasted from 1984 to 1999 and
cost some 37,000 lives.
AFP
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