TURKEY: Turkish President Abdullah Gul reaffirms Turkish right to intervene in northern Iraq

Turkish President Abdullah Gul says Turkey will carry out further raids inside northern Iraq if it's necessary. Turkish President Abdullah Gul reaffirmed on Sunday (December 2nd) Turkey's readiness and right to intervene in northern Iraq, one day after the Turkish army said it carried out an operation in Iraq against Kurdish rebels. The Turkish army had a mandate, he said. "This mandate is being used when it (the army) deems it necessary," Gul told reporters before flying to Pakistan for an official visit. The Turkish army carried out an operation against Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels in northern Iraq on Saturday (December 1st), sending in special forces after the cabinet authorised the army for cross-border operations. The army also fired long-range artillery and sent up to six helicopters to bomb a camp used by the PKK 20 km (12 miles) inside Iraq after spotting a group of 50 to 60 guerrillas there. Three thousand PKK rebels are estimated to be operating from the region. A PKK official who asked not to be named told Reuters in Sulaimaniya, northern Iraq, there had been no operation and the group had suffered no casualties. Earlier, a spokesman for Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani also said there had been no incursion by Turkish troops into the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region of northern Iraq. The U.S. military also said it was unaware of any incursion. Turkey has massed up to 100,000 troops near the mountainous border, backed up by tanks, artillery and warplanes. But Saturday's strike did not appear to be the long-awaited major operation by NATO member Turkey to destroy rebel bases. Ankara has made many threats of military action but, under heavy U.S. pressure, has so far shown restraint. Washington fears a large-scale operation could wreak havoc in the most stable part of Iraq and possibly the wider region.

ITN Source | December 2, 2007

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