Erdogan Says Turkey Alone Will Decide on Any Decision for Cross-Border Incursion
By VOA News
25 October 2007
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Ankara alone will make any decision on launching a cross-border incursion into northern Iraq to pursue Kurdish rebels.
In Romania Thursday, Mr. Erdogan said the United States may not want Turkey to carry out such an operation, but Ankara will make the decision on what has to be done. Turkey blames rebels with the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, for launching deadly attacks in southeastern Turkey from bases in northern Iraq.
In other developments, Turkish President Abdullah Gul says Ankara is running out of patience and will not tolerate the rebel attacks. Speaking at a regional meeting in the Turkish capital, Mr. Gul says Turkey is determined to take the steps necessary to end the threat from the rebels based in northern Iraq.
A high-level Iraqi delegation is meeting with Turkish officials in Ankara today, in an effort to diplomatically defuse the mounting crisis along the border between the two nations.
Turkish officials say the military has fired at Kurdish rebel positions inside northern Iraq since Sunday, when a rebel ambush near the border killed 12 Turkish soldiers. Troops have killed more than 60 rebels since Sunday's ambush in southeastern Turkey, including 30 rebels the military says were preparing to attack a military outpost Tuesday near the border with Iraq.
Turkey's National Security Council has called on the government to take economic measures against groups that the Council says are directly or indirectly aiding PKK rebels.
The European Union and the United States have urged Ankara to refrain from launching a military incursion into Iraq to counter the rebels. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says she has urged Iraqi Kurdish leaders to crack down on PKK rebels.
The PKK has been fighting for Kurdish autonomy in southeastern Turkey since 1984. More than 30,000 people have died in the conflict.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.
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