TURKEY: Turkish soldiers maintain a presence on the Iraq-Turkey border as Ankara seeks authorisation from parliament for an incursion into northern Iraq to fight Kurdish rebels

Turkish soldiers maintain a presence on the Iraq-Turkey border as Ankara seeks authorisation from parliament for an incursion into northern Iraq to fight Kurdish rebels. Turkey's prime minister will ask parliament next week to authorise a military push into north Iraq to fight Kurdish rebels. Analysts say a large Turkish cross-border incursion remains unlikely, but Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's government will seek authorisation for it after a public holiday whichon Sunday (October 14), a ruling party member told Reuters. "The resolution won't go to parliament today. It will be sent to parliament after Bayram (public holiday)," a senior ruling AK Party lawmaker, who declined to be named, told Reuters. The holiday begins on October 12 andon October 14. Parliament would have to grant its permission for troops to cross the border into Iraq. Washington fears such a move could destabilise Iraq's most peaceful area and potentially the wider region, but Erdogan has been under mounting pressure to act after 15 Turkish soldiers were killed in an attack by Kurdish rebels. Last Sunday's (October 7) attack in Turkey's Sirnak province was the deadliest single incident in 12 years. Two other soldiers died on Monday (October 8) in separate PKK landmine explosions. The previous week, 12 people, including village guards, died when PKK rebels ambushed their minibus in Sirnak province. Turkey's powerful armed forces have frequently called on the government to give them the green light to pursue the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) -- which is considered a terrorist organisation by the United States, Turkey and the EU, into Iraq. Ankara says 3,000 PKK rebels are based in the Iraqi mountains from where they stage attacks into Turkey. Turkey, which has NATO's second biggest army, has recently carried out small "hot pursuit" raids into northern Iraq amid an escalation in attacks against Turkish civilians and soldiers. Turkey's army has also boosted troop levels in the southeast to fight the PKK inside Turkey and try to prevent rebels from infiltrating from northern Iraq. Several security buffer zones have been set up as well.

ITN Source | October 11, 2007

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