IRAQ: Turks and Kurds express concern at border crossing

Turks and Kurds at major trading transit route on border between Turkey and northern Iraq say they are concerned as Ankara masses more troops and raids in Iraq are confirmed. Turkish warplanes and troops have attacked Kurdish rebels inside Iraq, military sources said on Wednesday (October 24). Planes flew 20 km (13 miles) into Iraq and 300 ground troops advanced about 10 km (six miles), putting Baghdad under greater pressure to act against PKK guerrillas operating from northern Iraq. The sources said 34 rebels of the outlawed PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) had been killed in the sorties. All Turkish troops involved in the operations had returned to Turkey. Northern Iraq depends heavily on Turkey for power, water and many food supplies. At the Ibrahim Khalil area in northern Iraq, thousands of trucks continued to cross into Turkey, but some drivers expressed concern that the crisis between the two countries will damage trade, "Both Turkish and Iraqi people will lose. We will lose our jobs. We depend on these jobs," said one truck driver. Abu, a Kurd, hoped there would be a diplomatic solution but said if the border closed, Iraq could still trade with Syria and Iran. "The big loser will be Turkey" he added. In the face of intense concern by Washington and Baghdad over a possible major incursion into northern Iraq by Turkish forces, Ankara says it is still hoping for a diplomatic solution to the crisis. Turkey, which has NATO's second biggest army, has deployed as many as 100,000 troops, backed by tanks, F-16 fighter jets and helicopter gunships, along the mountainous border in preparation for a possible large-scale strike.

ITN Source | October 24, 2007

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