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Turkey
presses Iraq, US on Kurdish rebels, warns of cross-border action |
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Turkey presses Iraq, US on Kurdish rebels,
warns of cross-border action
17.7.2006
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ANKARA, July 17,
2006 (AFP) , -- Turkey Monday urged its neighbour
Iraq and the United States to act against mounting
violence by separatist Kurdish rebels holed up in
northern Iraq, warning that it reserved the right to
venture into the enclave to protect itself.
The warning came after 15 members of the Turkish
security forces were killed in five days in clashes
with rebels from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers'
Party (PKK) who cross into Turkey from their bases
in the Kurdish-held north of Iraq to engage in
anti-government violence.
"The terrorist organisation has found shelter and
life in the north of Iraq and it is a fact that it
is troubling Turkey and spilling blood in Turkey by
taking advantage of that," government spokesman
Cemil Cicek told reporters after a cabinet meeting.
"Now we want the Iraqi government and our ally the
United States to eliminate" the PKK threat, he said,
calling on Baghdad "to take measures to remove the
threat of terror against Turkey" and on Washington
to support the Iraqi government in this process.
Asked whether Turkey would send troops into northern
Iraq if Iraq and the United States failed to curb
the rebels, Cicek said: "Turkey has rights arising
from international and domestic law and it will use
those rights to the full."
Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer on Monday
promulgated a controversial new anti-terror law that
was introduced to address the surge in PKK violence,
the presidential office said.
The legislation makes a wide range of criminal
offences -- from drug- and human-trafficking to
hijacking of transport vehicles and forgery --
punishable as terrorist acts if they are committed
with the aim of supporting terrorism.
The bill provides also prison terms of one to three
years for those spreading propaganda in favour of
terrorist groups, with the sentence increased by
half if the offence is committed in the media.
Human rights and press groups have protested against
the bill.
Turkey says thousands of armed PKK militants have
found refuge in northern Iraq since 1999, when the
group declared a unilateral ceasefire after the
capture of its leader, Abdullah Ocalan.
Much to Ankara's frustration, both Baghdad and
Washington have been reluctant to take military
action against the PKK, arguing that their forces
are swamped by violence in other parts of
conflict-torn Iraq.
The issue has become of increasing importance for
Ankara in recent months as clashes have escalated
between the PKK and the army since the rebels called
off their truce in June 2004.
The rebels have also carried out several bomb
attacks in urban centres.
Following the recent Turkish losses, Iraqi
ambassador Sabah Umran and US Ambassador Ross Wilson
were called into the foreign ministry Monday for
talks with undersecretary Ali Tuygan on curbing the
PKK.
"I told them the current situation is unacceptable
for us," Tuygan told reporters after the talks. "We
now need immediate measures that will ease the pain
we experience today. And the place those measures
should be taken is northern Iraq."
"Defending ourselves is a right that we always
have," he said when asked about a possible
cross-border operation.
Turkey says that Article 51 of the UN Charter
provides for the right of "hot pursuit" against the
PKK on Iraqi territory.
The article acknowledges the right of self-defense
if an armed attack occurs against a member nation.
The Turkish army conducted incursions into northern
Iraq before the 2003 US-led invasion, with the
support of local Iraqi Kurds.
But relations between Ankara and the Iraqi Kurds
have cooled since the invasion. Washington also
opposes cross-border operations on the grounds they
could further complicate the troubled security
situation in Iraq.
Turkey already has about 1,500 troops on Iraqi
territory, stationed along the border since a
major-cross border operation in 1997.
Army officials says the force stops rebels crossing
into Turkish territory and does not get involved in
any operational activities.
More than 37,000 people have been killed 1984 since
the PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Turkey, the
European Union and the United States, picked up arms
for self-rule in the mainly Kurdish southeast.
In the latest incident of violence, two PKK rebels
were killed in the town of Gercus, in the
southeastern town of Batman, in an operation
overnight on their hide-out, after the pair opened
fire on an armoured police vehicle and wounded an
officer, security sources said Monday.
A second policeman was also wounded in the operation
and he later died of his injuries at hospital.
AFP
Southeastern Turkey:
North Kurdistan (
Kurdistan-Turkey) wikipedia
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