Turkey deals blow to PKK, faces non-military battle

By Daren Butler - Analysis

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish military strikes in the mountains of northern Iraq appear to have dealt a powerful psychological blow to Kurdish separatists and disrupted their ability to stage attacks on Turkish soil.

But their successes will not suffice to crush the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) unless combined with a non-military fight to overcome political and cultural problems that have fostered insurgency in Turkey's impoverished southeast, analysts said.

Turkish warplanes have bombarded PKK targets in northern Iraq in waves of attacks since February when the army launched a major ground cross-border incursion -- signalling a fresh phase in a conflict which has claimed some 40,000 lives since 1984.

The European Union and the United States are keen for NATO-member Turkey, which they say is defending itself against a terrorist organization, to keep its attacks in northern Iraq limited to avoid destabilizing Iraq and the wider region.

U.S. intelligence has helped facilitate these strikes, enabling the Turkish army to pinpoint PKK rebels and their hideouts. The General Staff said one air raid in May killed more than 150 rebels, although these figures could not be confirmed.

"The Turkish armed forces have perhaps for the first time psychological supremacy over the PKK, because if you as an enemy know you are always under scrutiny you are not going to feel comfort in the area where you are located," said Turkish military affairs analyst Lale Sariibrahimoglu.

The PKK has consistently denied reports of heavy casualties or damage to their bases.

Amid the psychological warfare, recent media reports have claimed senior militants have been captured or killed. Notably last week there was speculation, which proved unfounded, that top PKK commander Murat Karayilan had been killed in a raid.