TURKEY: Turkey boosts border troops in preparation for Iraq attack

Turkey ferries more troops to the Iraq border, and calls for military action to hunt down PKK rebels increase, as diplomatic efforts get underway in Turkey's capital. Public pressure on Turkey to move against Kurdish rebels grew as an Iraqi delegation began talks in Ankara on Friday (October 26). Crowds flocked into the streets of Istanbul after Muslim prayers to step up pressure on the leadership to take military action against the PKK rebels. In a village near Sinark, hundreds of residents took to the streets to voice anger over attacks by the separatist guerrillas inside Turkey. Turkish helicopters ferried more troops to the border with Iraq. State-run Anatolian news agency said Cobra helicopters and fighter jets had also pounded PKK shelters discovered after reconnaissance missions along the border and inside Turkey. There are now around 100,000 troops along the mountainous border preparing for a possible cross-border operation to crush an estimated 3,000 guerrillas of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) who launch deadly attacks into Turkey from northern Iraq. Iraqi, Turkish and U.S. diplomats have stepped-up efforts to avert a large-scale Turkish incursion but Turkey's prime minister and president have repeatedly said their country would not tolerate any more PKK attacks from Iraq. A delegation led by Iraqi Defence Minister General Abdel Qader Jassim met Turkish officials in Ankara in a bid to avert a major offensive inside Iraq. Jassim told reporters on arrival in Ankara on Thursday (October 25) that they had come with concrete proposals. He declined to give further details. Ankara, which wants U.S. and Iraqi authorities to shut down PKK camps and hand over rebel leaders, is sceptical about Baghdad's ability to crack down on the PKK in northern Iraq, a mainly Kurdish region where central government has little clout. The United States fears a large-scale offensive by Turkey would destabilise the region as a whole. Public pressure on Turkish authorities to act has grown since rebels killed some 40 soldiers over the last month.

ITN Source | October 26, 2007

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