Turkish troops cross into Iraq to h

[kurdeng at aps.nl]

Subject: Turkish troops cross into Iraq to hit Kurd rebels


Iraq denounces Turkish cross-border incursion
     BAGHDAD, Iraq (Reuter) - Iraq officially protested to Turkey
Sunday for violating its northern border with a fresh incursion
in pursuit of Kurdish secessionist rebels.
     A Foreign Ministry spokesman said Turkish troops, backed by
helicopters, penetrated 2.5 miles into northern Iraq Friday in a
drive against guerrillas of Turkey's separatist Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK), causing heavy damage and casualties to
Iraqi Kurds.
     ``The government of Iraq refuses categorically Turkish
pretexts to justify its military operations inside Iraqi
territory and regards them as a violation of its sovereignty,
the principles of international law, the U.N. charter and
principles of good neighborliness,'' said a Foreign Ministry
statement carried by the Iraqi News Agency (INA).
     Iraq demanded an immediate withdrawal of the Turkish forces.
INA said the Foreign Ministry summoned the Turkish charge
d'affaires in Baghdad and delivered a strong protest.
     A Turkish official said Saturday Turkish troops had gone
more than two miles into Iraq to strike at Kurdish guerrillas
fighting the Ankara government.
     Turkey twice this year poured troops into northern Iraq to
pound PKK rebels who use the area as a staging ground for
attacks in their 11-year battle for autonomy or independence in
Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast.
     However, Iraqi Kurdistan is an autonomous area under Western
protection to prevent attacks by the Iraqi government of
President Saddam Hussein.
     ``Iraq has often explained to Turkey that direct cooperation
and constructive dialog with the central government in Iraq are
the only guarantors with which to face the abnormal status quo
in northern Iraq,'' the spokesman added.
     In addition to tensions because of Turkey's participation in
the U.S.-led Gulf war that drove Iraq from Kuwait in 1991,
Baghdad-Ankara relations have often soured over border issues
and contacts with Kurdish rebels from both countries.

Turkish troops cross into Iraq to hit Kurd rebels

     DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuter) - Turkish troops have crossed
into northern Iraq to strike at separatist Kurdish guerrillas
fighting the Ankara government, a Turkish official said.
     ``We went in and hit them,'' Unal Erkan, governor for
Turkey's 10 southeastern provinces under emergency rule, told
Reuters on Saturday.
     Erkan said Turkish soldiers crossed into northern Iraq
Friday and advanced 2.0-2.5 miles. It was unclear how many were
sent in.
     ``When the work is finished they will return,'' he said.
     Turkey twice this year poured troops into northern Iraq to
pound Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels who use the area as a
staging ground for attacks in their 11-year battle for autonomy
or independence in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast.
     A major cross-border operation in March was criticized by
some of Turkey's Western allies, but small groups of soldiers
are reported at times to engage in forays across the border.
     The regional governor's office Sunday issued a statement
saying that 32 PKK guerrillas were killed in the past 24 hours.
     Local journalists said the Turkish soldiers had probably
crossed into northern Iraq from the mountainious border with the
Turkish province of Hakkari, scene of the latest clashes with
the PKK.
     Northern Iraq has been outside Baghdad's control since
shortly after the end of the 1991 Gulf War over Kuwait. It is
protected by a Western allied air force based in the southern
Turkey.
     The PKK has also been fighting Iraqi Kurdish rebel movements
in northern Iraq which are pressed by Ankara to drive out PKK
fighters from areas under their control.
     Iraqi Kurdish sources in southeastern Turkey said clashes
between the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and PKK, which
started in August, were continuing.


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 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)