Turkey boosts troops at Iraqi border

By Paul de Bendern

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) - Turkey's army has boosted troop levels in the restive southeast to more than 200,000, most of them stationed along the border with Iraq, security sources told Reuters on Friday.

The unusually large-scale buildup, which includes tanks, heavy artillery and aircraft, is part of a security crackdown on Kurdish rebels hiding in southeast Turkey and northern Iraq, said the security sources, who declined to be named.

NATO member Turkey has refused to rule out a possible cross-border operation to crush up to 4,000 Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels believed to be based in mountains in northern Iraq, despite opposition from the United States and Baghdad.

The military General Staff in Ankara was not immediately available for comment on the troop numbers.

Highlighting Turkey's security dilemma, army sources said two soldiers and two PKK rebels had been killed in eastern Turkey during military operations over the past two days.

Dozens of soldiers and paramilitary police have been killed in an escalation of violence in east and southeast Turkey in recent months.

Armed forces chief General Yasar Buyukanit has repeatedly urged the government to allow an incursion into neighbouring, mainly Kurdish, northern Iraq to crush PKK militants.

Earlier this week, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said the Turkish army had 140,000 soldiers along the Iraqi border as part of a "great mobilisation". He called for dialogue with Turkey to resolve the issue.