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Turkish cabinet in urgent talks after Kurdish attacks

Guardian Unlimited

2007-10-08

Mark Tran and agencies
Monday October 8, 2007
Guardian Unlimited

The Turkish cabinet met today amid heightened pressure to hit back at Kurdish fighters in Iraq after 13 soldiers were killed in an ambush yesterday, and two more today.

Three others were wounded today in the separate attacks in south-eastern Turkey, which followed yesterday's death toll, the worst the Turkish military has suffered at the hands of Kurdish forces in years.

The prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said today's cabinet meeting would take up the issue of the long-running campaign against the Kurdistan Workers' party, or PKK, and would be followed by an anti-terrorism meeting, made up of officials in charge of security.

Article continues
"Our struggle against terrorism will continue in a different manner," Mr Erdogan told reporters late yesterday, without elaborating.

He said he would also discuss the issue with the US president, George Bush, during a visit to Washington next month. A Nato member, Turkey is considered an important US ally.

Mr Erdogan has come under intense pressure from the military for permission to hit PKK bases in northern Iraq. But the US and Iraq have urged him to hold his military in check for fear that a big incursion would destabilise northern Iraq, an area of relative calm compared with the rest of the country.

The heavy loss of life yesterday took place in the south-eastern province of Sirnak, not far from where troops and rebels clashed two days earlier, according to a statement on the Turkish military's website.

An operation to track down the rebels was under way, and troops shelled areas near the border to try to prevent rebels reaching their bases in northern Iraq, the military said.

At least two F-16 war planes could be seen taking off from Diyarbakir air base. Other war planes could be seen in hangars, ready to take off.

Sunday's clash "boosted our determination and strength" to fight terrorism, the military said.

Abdul-Rahman al-Chadarchi, a spokesman for the Kurdish rebel group, confirmed the attack and said the rebel fighters had sustained no casualties. Kurdish rebels, based in northern Iraq, have long been a thorn in the side of the Turkish military.

Turkey signed a counterterrorism pact with Iraq last month and had demanded it be allowed to send troops on "hot pursuit" missions into Iraq. But Iraq rejected the demand under pressure from the leaders of its semi-autonomous Kurdish region.

Turkey's military at the weekend designated 27 "security zones" that will be off-limits to civilians in the east and south-east where the borders with Iraq and Iran converge.

The zones will be in place until December 10.

The military imposed similar zones in June in three south-eastern provinces to keep civilians away from the fighting with the PKK. The establishment of the zones has fed speculation of a possible Iraq campaign.

Mr Erdogan said the government's anti-terrorism panel would meet on Monday to assess the latest events. "We will take certain steps based on the outcome of that meeting," he said.

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