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Jalal Talabani: Turkish strike in Iraq was
'almost certain'
17.11.2007
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November
17, 2007
KUWAIT CITY, -- Iraqi President Jalal
Talabani said Friday a Turkish strike on Turkey's
Kurdish PKK rebel bases in northern Iraq was "almost
certain", Kuwait's state news agency KUNA reported.
Any strike would be "limited" and would not affect
relations between Iraq and Turkey or between Turkey
and the Kurds, KUNA quoted Talabani as saying in an
interview during a visit to Kuwait.
His comments come a day after the Turkish general in
charge of land forces said preparations were under
way for a military strike against Kurdistan Workers'
Party (PKK) bases.
"The parliament has authorised the cabinet (on a
cross-border operation). We are now in the process
of implementing the mandate for a cross-border
operation," General Ilker Basbug said.
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Iraqi President : Jalal Talabani, a Kurd |
Turkey has massed an estimated 100,000 troops and
military equipment on the border with Iraqi
Kurdistan following controversial parliamentary
approval for an incursion.
"We have called on the PKK to either lay down arms
or leave Iraqi territory," Talabani, himself a Kurd,
said in Kuwait.
He said that following Turkish-Iraqi talks at a
conference of Iraq's neighbours and Western powers
held in Istanbul earlier this month, Ankara
indicated that the threatened operation will be
limited to the areas where the PKK is based and will
not extend to populated areas or regions controlled
by the Kurdistan regional government.
www.ekurd.net
AFP
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