|
Iraq says Turkey raid an 'attack on
sovereignty'
19.12.2007
|
|
|
|
December
19, 2007
BAGHDAD, -- Iraq said on Wednesday it
believed Turkey was unlikely to extend a military
operation against Turkey's Kurdish PKK rebels in
Kurdistan region in 'northern Iraq but sharply
criticised Ankara for what it branded an attack on
its sovereignty.
Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh urged
Ankara to end the military action -- which comes
after weeks of mounting cross-border tensions -- and
use dialogue to solve the rebel issue.
"We feel this issue will not be solved militarily.
Any such action is an attack on Iraq's sovereignty,"
he told AFP.
Around
500 Turkish
troops crossed into Kurdistan region 'northern Iraq'
on Tuesday targeting Turkey's rebel Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK) guerrillas hiding in the
mountainous terrain along the border with Turkey.
The ground incursion was the first such operation
since tensions between the two neighbours broke out
after the rebels ambushed a Turkish military patrol
on October 21 and killed 12 soldiers.
"We believe Turkey is not going to extend the
operation. It is a limited operation," Dabbagh said.
Turkey's military said the incursion had dealt a
"heavy blow" to the rebels.
"A small-scale operation conducted by ground
troops... dealt a heavy blow" to PKK militants who
had tried to infiltrate Turkey overnight,www.ekurd.net
it said on its website
on Tuesday.
Iraqi Kurdish officials from Kurdistan 'northern
Iraq' had said on Tuesday evening that Ankara had
started withdrawing the troops.
But Dabbagh said he did not know if Turkish forces
had withdrawn completely.
"It is difficult to say as the area there is not
easy to track," he said.
Turkey did not indicate how many troops took part in
the incursion, which began after the army "received
images" of a rebel group attempting to sneak across
the border.
Local Iraqi officials said about 500 soldiers
crossed into remote areas in northern Iraq and began
withdrawing by Tuesday afternoon.
The PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Ankara, US
and EU.
Since 1984 the PKK
took up arms for self-rule in the country's mainly
Kurdish southeast of Turkey. A large Turkey's Kurdish community
openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK for a
Kurdish homeland in southeast of Turkey.
The PKK demanded Turkey's recognition of the Kurds'
identity in its constitution and of their language
as a native language along with Turkish in the
country's Kurdish areas, the party also demanded
an end to ethnic discrimination in Turkish laws and
constitution against Kurds, granting them full
political freedoms.
The incursion on Tuesday followed Turkish air
strikes Sunday on rebel positions in northern Iraq
where the PKK is known to have camps.
The Turkish army has voiced determination to
continue cross-border operations in line with a
parliamentary authorisation in October that approved
such incursions to end the safe haven the PKK enjoys
in Kurdistan 'northern Iraq'.
Iraqi Kurdistan politician says, Turkey is using
Turkey's Kurdish separatist PKK rebel group as an
excuse to invade Kurdistan region 'Iraq' to prevent
the establishment of Kurdistan state in the Kurdish
autonomous region in 'northern Iraq',www.ekurd.net
Turkey fears this could
fan separatism among its own large Kurdish
population in southeast Turkey.
Turkish officials have claimed that they had support
from Washington which opened Kurdistan region's
'northern Iraqi' airspace after which Turkish planes
bombed areas along the border on Sunday.
The White House raised no public objections to the
incursion by Turkey, a key Muslim ally of the United
States.
"There are conflicting reports in terms of the depth
and scope and breadth of it," said Dana Perino,
spokeswoman for the White House. "We've asked Turkey
to be very limited in its activities."
The Pentagon promised to keep supplying its NATO
partner with intelligence to "deal with" the PKK,
while the White House called the group "a threat" to
Turkey, the United States and Iraq.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who visited
Iraq on Tuesday, suffered a diplomatic snub over the
perceived US approval of Turkish air attacks, with
Kurdish regional president Massud Barzani refusing
to meet her.
"It is unacceptable that the United States, in
charge of monitoring our airspace, authorised Turkey
to bomb our villages," Kurdish regional prime
minister Nechirvan Barzani said.
AFP
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 