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Turkish general vows intensified
offensives against Kurdish rebels
24.4.2006
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ANKARA, Turkey,
April 23 (AP) - Turkey's army chief vowed stepped-up
offensives against autonomy-seeking Kurdish rebels
in comments broadcast Sunday as the military sent
thousands of soldiers backed by tanks to its
overwhelmingly Kurdish southeast and the Iraqi
border.
"As long as the PKK exists our operations will
continue in ever-increasing intensity," Gen. Yasar
Buyukanit, the land forces' commander, told CNN-Turk
television in an interview aired Sunday. He was
referring to the Kurdistan Workers' Party which has
been battling for autonomy since 1984.
Buyukanit stressed however, that there was nothing
unusual in the troop deployment in the region.
"There is nothing extraordinary, there is always
some movement in the area," he said. "It is not
different from previous years."
Asked whether the military planned to cross into
northern Iraq in pursuit of PKK rebels there,
Buyukanit said: "I am not saying anything."
Fighting between soldiers and the guerrillas, who
are based in northern Iraq, often intensifies in the
spring, when the snows melt, clearing mountain
passes along the border.
Turkey already has some 2,000 soldiers, backed by
tanks, in northern Iraq to guard against
cross-border attacks. However, if troops were to
cross the border in force, it could potentially
destabilize northern Iraq, one of the few stable
areas of the country.
The Aksam newspaper reported Friday that Turkey has
moved some 10,000 soldiers to the border regions,
increasing its troop strength to around 50,000.
Military and intelligence officers, speaking on
condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of
the information, have confirmed the deployment of
troops to the region but would not say how many
troops were involved.
Violence in the region has increased recently. In
the past few months, some 40 rebels, 14 soldiers and
four police officers have been killed in clashes in
southeastern Turkey.
Some 37,000 people have been killed since the PKK
took up arms in 1984.
Turkey has called on the United States to crack down
on rebel bases in northern Iraq, but U.S.
commanders, struggling to battle Iraqi insurgents
elsewhere, have been extremely reticent to fight the
Kurdish rebels.
AP
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