Turkey´s cross border military operation in northern Iraq appreoved

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Source: CCTV.com | 10-18-2007 11:24

Turkey's parliament has approved the motion submitted by the government for cross-border military operations against the Kurdish Workers' Party in northern Iraq.

Turkey's parliament overwhelmingly passed the motion Wednesday empowering the government to order the military to cross into northern Iraq over a one-year period, to hunt down PKK rebels taking shelter there.

Koksal Toptan, Parliament Spokesman, said, "507 votes for yes, 19 votes for no has been counted with the approval of the counting officials. So the prime Minster's motion is accepted by the Turkish parliament"

Hours before the vote, Iraqi prime minister Nuri al-Maliki asked for another chance for his country, saying his government is determined to end the presence and activities of the PKK.

He says the Iraqi government has given a strict order to the Kurdish autonomous regional administration in northern Iraq to take action against the PKK.

But Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his country cannot endure any further loss of time.However, he has played down expectations of any imminent attack.

The PKK has increased its attacks on government troops in southeastern Turkey, which led to rising Turkish demands for an incursion into northern Iraq to crush the rebels based there.

The group launched an armed campaign for an ethnic homeland in the mainly Kurdish southeastern Turkey in 1984, sparking decades of strife that has claimed more than 30,000 lives.