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Kurd rebels kill 12 Turkish troops
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan calls emergency meeting
DEVELOPING STORY
Reuters
Updated: 6:15 a.m. CT Oct 21, 2007
TUNCELI, Turkey - Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan called crisis talks that may authorize a cross-border military offensive after Kurdish rebels killed at least 12 Turkish soldiers in an ambush on Sunday near the Iraqi border.
The attack, one of the worst in more than a decade by rebels of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), came four days after the Ankara parliament backed a motion allowing troops to enter northern Iraq to fight guerrillas hiding there.
“We are very angry... Our parliament has granted us the authority to act and within this framework we will do whatever has to be done,” Erdogan said at an Istanbul polling station after voting in Sunday’s referendum on constitutional changes.
Erdogan said military and government officials would meet at 8 pm (1 p.m. EDT) under the chairmanship of President Abdullah Gul at the presidential palace to decide how Turkey should respond.
Turkey’s military general staff said 12 soldiers and 23 rebels were killed in Sunday’s clashes. Security sources had said earlier at least 13 Turkish soldiers had been killed.
In another incident on Sunday, a landmine killed one civilian and wounded at least 13 more in a minibus traveling near to where the soldiers were killed.
The United States, Turkey’s NATO ally, and the Baghdad government have urged Ankara to refrain from military action, fearing this could destabilize the most peaceful part of Iraq and possibly the wider region.
Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani said on Sunday his autonomous region would defend itself if Turkish troops launched a cross-border incursion.
“We are not going to be caught up in the PKK and Turkish war, but if Kurdistan region is targeted, then we are going to defend our citizens,” Barzani told reporters after meeting Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, who is also a Kurd.
In Arbil, Iraq, a Kurdish military official said the Turkish military had fired artillery shells into about 11 areas along the border in Iraq early on Sunday. There were no casualties.
Anger
The PKK attack, which wounded up to 16 people, occurred in Hakkari province in the mountainous border area early on Sunday.
The pro-PKK Firat news agency said the rebels had taken ”many hostages” among the Turkish troops. The report could not be independently confirmed.
Turkey has deployed as many as 100,000 troops along the border to try to stop the PKK rebels crossing from Iraqi bases to stage attacks inside Turkey.
Erdogan’s government is under pressure from public opinion and the powerful military to take action against the PKK following a series of deadly attacks on Turkish security forces.
The death toll among Turkish troops and security personnel has reached around 40 in the past month alone.
“A cross-border operation must now definitely be carried out,” said Devlet Bahceli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), in comment typical of opposition parties’ reaction.
Parliament’s authorization for cross-border operations is valid for one year. Erdogan has previously signaled military operations are not imminent and Western diplomats in Ankara say Turkey is not keen to send troops into Iraq because of the security and economic risks.
“We cannot expect Turkey to remain silent in the face of attacks like these,” Murat Yetkin, a commentator for the liberal Radikal daily told NTV television.
“This attack, coming on a day when Turkey votes in a referendum, is a very clear provocation. It shows the PKK is not interested in democratic initiatives,” Yetkin said.
Sunday’s referendum will decide whether Turkey’s future presidents will be elected directly by the people instead of by parliament, as well as on other changes.
Turkey’s tougher stance has helped propel global oil prices to record highs over the past week. Pipelines carrying Iraqi and Caspian crude cross Turkey.
Ankara blames the PKK for the deaths of more than 30,000 people since the group launched its armed campaign for an ethnic homeland in southeast Turkey in 1984. The United States and European Union class the PKK as a terrorist organization.
Copyright 2007 Reuters. Click for restrictions.
URL: Kurd rebels kill 12 Turkish troops - Conflict in Iraq - MSNBC.com
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan calls emergency meeting
DEVELOPING STORY
Reuters
Updated: 6:15 a.m. CT Oct 21, 2007
TUNCELI, Turkey - Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan called crisis talks that may authorize a cross-border military offensive after Kurdish rebels killed at least 12 Turkish soldiers in an ambush on Sunday near the Iraqi border.
The attack, one of the worst in more than a decade by rebels of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), came four days after the Ankara parliament backed a motion allowing troops to enter northern Iraq to fight guerrillas hiding there.
“We are very angry... Our parliament has granted us the authority to act and within this framework we will do whatever has to be done,” Erdogan said at an Istanbul polling station after voting in Sunday’s referendum on constitutional changes.
Erdogan said military and government officials would meet at 8 pm (1 p.m. EDT) under the chairmanship of President Abdullah Gul at the presidential palace to decide how Turkey should respond.
Turkey’s military general staff said 12 soldiers and 23 rebels were killed in Sunday’s clashes. Security sources had said earlier at least 13 Turkish soldiers had been killed.
In another incident on Sunday, a landmine killed one civilian and wounded at least 13 more in a minibus traveling near to where the soldiers were killed.
The United States, Turkey’s NATO ally, and the Baghdad government have urged Ankara to refrain from military action, fearing this could destabilize the most peaceful part of Iraq and possibly the wider region.
Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani said on Sunday his autonomous region would defend itself if Turkish troops launched a cross-border incursion.
“We are not going to be caught up in the PKK and Turkish war, but if Kurdistan region is targeted, then we are going to defend our citizens,” Barzani told reporters after meeting Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, who is also a Kurd.
In Arbil, Iraq, a Kurdish military official said the Turkish military had fired artillery shells into about 11 areas along the border in Iraq early on Sunday. There were no casualties.
Anger
The PKK attack, which wounded up to 16 people, occurred in Hakkari province in the mountainous border area early on Sunday.
The pro-PKK Firat news agency said the rebels had taken ”many hostages” among the Turkish troops. The report could not be independently confirmed.
Turkey has deployed as many as 100,000 troops along the border to try to stop the PKK rebels crossing from Iraqi bases to stage attacks inside Turkey.
Erdogan’s government is under pressure from public opinion and the powerful military to take action against the PKK following a series of deadly attacks on Turkish security forces.
The death toll among Turkish troops and security personnel has reached around 40 in the past month alone.
“A cross-border operation must now definitely be carried out,” said Devlet Bahceli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), in comment typical of opposition parties’ reaction.
Parliament’s authorization for cross-border operations is valid for one year. Erdogan has previously signaled military operations are not imminent and Western diplomats in Ankara say Turkey is not keen to send troops into Iraq because of the security and economic risks.
“We cannot expect Turkey to remain silent in the face of attacks like these,” Murat Yetkin, a commentator for the liberal Radikal daily told NTV television.
“This attack, coming on a day when Turkey votes in a referendum, is a very clear provocation. It shows the PKK is not interested in democratic initiatives,” Yetkin said.
Sunday’s referendum will decide whether Turkey’s future presidents will be elected directly by the people instead of by parliament, as well as on other changes.
Turkey’s tougher stance has helped propel global oil prices to record highs over the past week. Pipelines carrying Iraqi and Caspian crude cross Turkey.
Ankara blames the PKK for the deaths of more than 30,000 people since the group launched its armed campaign for an ethnic homeland in southeast Turkey in 1984. The United States and European Union class the PKK as a terrorist organization.
Copyright 2007 Reuters. Click for restrictions.
URL: Kurd rebels kill 12 Turkish troops - Conflict in Iraq - MSNBC.com
