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Pursuing the PKK

Turkey Prepares for Incursions into Iraq

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan intends to seek parliamentary approval for military incursions into northern Iraq to pursue Kurdish rebels. The US is warning against such a move and Iraq has said it would amount to a violation of its sovereignty.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is to present a motion to parliament asking for approval for military incursions into northern Iraq to pursue Kurdish rebels there.

He told CNN-Turk TV on Wednesday that he could present the bill as early as Thursday. It would then be voted upon as early as next week and would give the government a one-year authorization to launch military operations across the border against the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

"It does not mean that everything will happen once we have the authorization," Erdogan said. "We want to have the authorization in hand so as to make a swift decision when it becomes necessary."

Erdogan suggested Turkey may not take immediate action but may rather wait to see if the US and the Iraqis crack down on the PKK bases in northern Iraq. "If you're against it, make your attitude clear and do whatever is necessary," the prime minister said. "If you cannot do it, then let us do it."

Pressure has mounted on Erdogan this week after 15 soldiers were killed over the weekend in the mainly Kurdish southeast of Turkey. The bloodshed continued on Wednesday -- one policeman was killed and several people were injured when a bomb was thrown into a tailor's shop in Diyarbakir, the largest city in Turkey's southeast.

Erdogan's AKP party has a strong majority in parliament, but even if the bill passes, that does not mean a military operation would immediately follow. By law, the government needs parliamentary authorization for the deployment of Turkish troops outside the country.

Ankara is exasperated at the mounting PKK violence and inaction from the Iraqis to stop cross-border attacks. The PKK have engaged in a bloody campaign for autonomy since 1984, which has claimed more than 37,000 lives.

On Wednesday, Turkish warplanes and helicopter gunships bombed suspected PKK positions along the border and Turkish authorities arrested 20 Kurds, including eight women, who entered the country from Iraq. The authorities suspect them of being PKK supporters.

Cooling Relations between Ankara and Washington

On Wednesday Erdogan voiced his frustration with the US failure to help remove the PKK's safe haven in northern Iraq. He told CNN-Turk that a series of consultations between the US and Turkey "did not produce the expected results," and were "wasted time."

Relations between Turkey and the US have been further damaged by a Congressional bill that would label the Ottoman massacre of Armenians during World War I as genocide. The House of Representatives Foreign Affairs committee approved the resolution on Wednesday despite the objections of US President George W. Bush.

Washington warned Turkey Wednesday against unilateral action in northern Iraq. "We do not think it would be the best place for troops to go into Iraq from Turkey at this time," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters.

The US wants Turkey to cooperate with Iraq to resolve the security issue. Ankara and Baghdad signed an accord last month to combat the PKK but Iraq objected to a clause that would have allowed Turkish troops to pursue fleeing rebels across the border.

An Iraqi government spokesman said Wednesday that any Turkish military incursion would be regarded as a violation of Iraq's sovereignty. "We are aware of the size of the threat Turkey is subjected to, but this does not give Turkey the right to enter Iraq territories," Ali al-Dabbagh said.

Baghdad has little influence in the largely autonomous Kurdish north, while Washington does not want to rock the boat in what is Iraq's most peaceful region.

smd/ap/afp/reuters