Turkey hits PKK targets in n. Iraq after ambush
(Adds details, background)
By Ibon Villelabeitia
ANKARA, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Turkey's military launched retaliatory air strikes inside northern Iraq on Monday against suspected Kurdish separatist rebels after at least 15 Turkish soldiers were killed in a cross-border attack on Friday.
With public anger mounting after the attack -- the deadliest against the military in one year -- Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and the powerful military have pledged to step up a campaign to crush the outlawed PKK.
The incident has strained ties between Iraq and Turkey, which accuses its neighbour of not doing enough to combat rebels of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) based in mountainous northern Iraq. Two soldiers were also wounded and two more were missing and possibly dead after rebels used heavy weapons.
"The military continues to follow terrorist members who took part in the Oct. 3 attack," the General Staff said in a statement. "Our warplanes achieved their mission and came back to base safely," the statement said.
There was no immediate indication about whether the raids had caused casualties or what damage had been caused.
NATO-member Turkey has attacked PKK bases in northern Iraq several times over the past 12 months but has confined itself to shelling and air strikes since a brief land offensive in February.
In a display of nationwide indignation, mourners booed Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul during funerals on Sunday for some of the soldiers killed. Waving Turkish flags, thousands poured into the streets across the country in mourning.
MISSING SOLDIERS
Kurdish PKK rebels said on Monday they were holding two Turkish soldiers who went missing.
"We have two Turkish soldiers. I cannot confirm if they are dead or alive. We will announce this soon," PKK spokesman Ahmed Danees said by telephone to a Reuters journalist based in Kurdish northern Iraq.
A large-scale offensive against the PKK in Iraq would draw sharp criticism from Turkey's main ally, the United States, and the European Union, which Ankara aspires to join.
Washington and Brussels are concerned a large-scale Turkish operation in northern Iraq would further destabilise Iraq and the wider region.
Several thousand PKK fighters are believed to be based in northern Iraq, from where they stage attacks on mainly military targets in southeast Turkey. Getting them down from the mountains is likely to require more than sporadic air raids.
Turkey blames the PKK, considered a terrorist organisation by the United States and the EU, for the deaths of more than 40,000 people since it launched its campaign for an ethnic Kurdish homeland in southeast Turkey in 1984.
Analysts said the PKK, which has been weakened by regular air strikes, appeared to have carefully timed the ambush, before the winter snows make a large incursion improbable.
Parliament is certainly likely on Wednesday to approve a government request to extend a mandate to launch military operations against the PKK in Iraq as needed. The current mandate expires on Oct. 17.
The attack also comes as Turkey's constitutional court considers whether to ban the country's largest pro-Kurdish party, the Democratic Society party (DTP), for alleged links to the PKK.
Banning the DTP would bolster the image of the PKK, which says armed struggle is the only avenue to achieve political and cultural rights for Kurds which are denied by the Turkish state.
By Ibon Villelabeitia
ANKARA, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Turkey's military launched retaliatory air strikes inside northern Iraq on Monday against suspected Kurdish separatist rebels after at least 15 Turkish soldiers were killed in a cross-border attack on Friday.
With public anger mounting after the attack -- the deadliest against the military in one year -- Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and the powerful military have pledged to step up a campaign to crush the outlawed PKK.
The incident has strained ties between Iraq and Turkey, which accuses its neighbour of not doing enough to combat rebels of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) based in mountainous northern Iraq. Two soldiers were also wounded and two more were missing and possibly dead after rebels used heavy weapons.
"The military continues to follow terrorist members who took part in the Oct. 3 attack," the General Staff said in a statement. "Our warplanes achieved their mission and came back to base safely," the statement said.
There was no immediate indication about whether the raids had caused casualties or what damage had been caused.
NATO-member Turkey has attacked PKK bases in northern Iraq several times over the past 12 months but has confined itself to shelling and air strikes since a brief land offensive in February.
In a display of nationwide indignation, mourners booed Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul during funerals on Sunday for some of the soldiers killed. Waving Turkish flags, thousands poured into the streets across the country in mourning.
MISSING SOLDIERS
Kurdish PKK rebels said on Monday they were holding two Turkish soldiers who went missing.
"We have two Turkish soldiers. I cannot confirm if they are dead or alive. We will announce this soon," PKK spokesman Ahmed Danees said by telephone to a Reuters journalist based in Kurdish northern Iraq.
A large-scale offensive against the PKK in Iraq would draw sharp criticism from Turkey's main ally, the United States, and the European Union, which Ankara aspires to join.
Washington and Brussels are concerned a large-scale Turkish operation in northern Iraq would further destabilise Iraq and the wider region.
Several thousand PKK fighters are believed to be based in northern Iraq, from where they stage attacks on mainly military targets in southeast Turkey. Getting them down from the mountains is likely to require more than sporadic air raids.
Turkey blames the PKK, considered a terrorist organisation by the United States and the EU, for the deaths of more than 40,000 people since it launched its campaign for an ethnic Kurdish homeland in southeast Turkey in 1984.
Analysts said the PKK, which has been weakened by regular air strikes, appeared to have carefully timed the ambush, before the winter snows make a large incursion improbable.
Parliament is certainly likely on Wednesday to approve a government request to extend a mandate to launch military operations against the PKK in Iraq as needed. The current mandate expires on Oct. 17.
The attack also comes as Turkey's constitutional court considers whether to ban the country's largest pro-Kurdish party, the Democratic Society party (DTP), for alleged links to the PKK.
Banning the DTP would bolster the image of the PKK, which says armed struggle is the only avenue to achieve political and cultural rights for Kurds which are denied by the Turkish state.
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