by Agence France Presse - Oct 31, 2007
Smoke from artillery fire could be seen above the rugged hills while at least one Sikorsky transport helicopter dropped off troops and a convoy of military trucks headed for the Iraqi border.
The fighting comes after about 100 members of the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) were surrounded Monday in neighboring Hakkari Province after the army blocked their escape routes to Iraq.
And on the weekend one soldier was killed during a large-scale crackdown on the rebels in Tunceli Province to the north. The army has not confirmed reports that 15 PKK militants were also killed in the clashes.
In Ankara, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned the United States that its failure to help end the PKK safe haven in northern Iraq would harm the relationship between the two long-standing NATO allies.
Scheduled to meet US President George W. Bush at the White House on November 5, Erdogan called for "concrete, urgent steps" against the PKK, which Washington, like most of the international community, considers a terrorist group.
"The problem of the PKK terrorist organization is a sincerity test for everybody," Erdogan said. "I will tell him [Bush] this test carries great importance for the region and in determining the fate of our future relations."
He said he would discuss "the groups on which the terrorist organization relies" - an apparent reference to the Iraqi Kurds, who administer northern Iraq and are accused by Ankara of tolerating and even supporting the PKK.
"Our talks [with Bush] will make them better understand Turkey's patience has run out and that we are determined to unhesitatingly take all the steps to finish off terrorism," he said.
The Turkish Army has reportedly massed about 100,000 troops along the Iraqi border after Parliament gave approval for a military incursion into northern Iraq to root out the militants.
Tensions at the frontier escalated after October 21 when PKK rebels, who Turkey says infiltrated from northern Iraq, ambushed a military unit and killed 12 soldiers. Eight troops were captured.
The army has confirmed killing 65 rebels since then.
The crisis will enter a crucial diplomatic stage Friday when US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice meets Turkish leaders in Ankara before Erdogan's Washington visit.
She will hold talks with Erdogan, Foreign Minister Ali Babacan and President Abdullah Gul, a US Embassy official said. The State Department had initially said she would be in Ankara Thursday.
Rice will then participate in a multilateral conference on Iraq in Istanbul on Friday evening and Saturday, which Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari will also attend.
Washington is stuck in an awkward position between two key allies - NATO member Turkey and the Iraqi Kurds.
Defying Turkish pressure, Massoud Barzani, head of the Kurdish regional government in northern Iraq, said he would take no "orders" from Ankara to crack down on the PKK bases.
"I am a friend of Turkey but I am not taking orders from Turkey or anyone else," he told Turkey's Milliyet newspaper in an interview published Tuesday.
He urged the PKK to lay down arms and called on Turkey to consider a political solution to the Kurdish problem, including a general amnesty for the rebels.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment