Turkey considers Incursion on Kurdish rebel bases in Iraq

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Source: CCTV.com | 10-11-2007 14:04

A PKK fighter takes position with his rifle during a training session in Northern Iraq, June 2007. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the government was likely to submit a motion to parliament Thursday seeking approval for an incursion into northern Iraq to pursue Kurdish rebels.(AFP)

Turkey's Prime Minister has confirmed his government is seeking parliamentary authorization for a military incursion into northern Iraq. The move targets Kurdish rebels in the region. But both the United States and the EU oppose it.

The Turkish government is under growing pressure to take action after cross-border attacks have killed 15 Turkish soldiers since Sunday. The Turkish parliament will vote on the operation on Thursday. With the majority of Erdogan's ruling AK Party in parliament, it's very likely for the government to get approval to send troops.

Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish PM, said, "After the holiday we will get the authority from the parliament, but it will be a limited one, for one year. And during this year, we are going to pass on this authority to our security forces as soon as it is necessary."

Turkey blames rebels of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party for the deaths of more than 30,000 people since it launched an armed struggle for an ethnic homeland in southeast Turkey in 1984.

Turkey made large-scale incursions into northern Iraq in 1995 and 1997 but the operations failed to dislodge the rebels. Turkey has also carried out smaller-scale "hot pursuit" operations in Iraq that do not require parliamentary approval.