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TURKEY - PKK
Turkish jets pound rebel positions
Monday 25 February 2008
For the fifth successive day, Turkish fighter jets attacked Kurdish rebel positions in northern Iraq despite international calls for restraint. At least 153 rebels have been killed in the past five days, according to a Turkish military statement.
Monday 25 February 2008
By FRANCE 24 with agenciesThe latest Turkish invasion into northern Iraq has sparked calls for restraint from capitals across the world – including Washington, Turkey’s close ally. Could the invasion destablilise the relatively secure Kurdish autonomous region in Iraq? Did the Turkish assault have Washington’s consent? What’s at stake for the US mission in Iraq? And, more critically, what’s at stake for the volatile region? Post your questions by clicking on the response button below. We may use it on the FRANCE 24 Debate at 7.10 PM (GMT + 1).
Turkish fighter jets pounded Kurdish rebel positions for the fifth day running Monday in the mountainous Hakurk region of northern Iraq, security sources here told AFP.
Turkey's military General Staff said in a statement on Monday the number of Kurdish PKK rebels killed during the offensive had risen to 153. According to the statement, at least two Turkish soldiers were also killed in the latest clashes.
Members of the Kurdish security force in the autonomous north of Iraq said the raids, which began around 10:00 pm (2000 GMT) Sunday, continued overnight in and around Hakurk, a prominent PKK stronghold some 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the Turkish frontier.
Billows of smoke could be seen miles away, they said.
The Firat news agency, considered a PKK mouthpiece, said on its Internet site that warplanes began taking off from the military air base in Diyarbakir, the main city in Turkey's southeast, late Sunday.
The raids came after fighting intensified between Turkish troops and PKK rebels around Hakurk.
The Turkish army released new footage of the incursion, showing soldiers in white camouflage filing into a Sikorsky helicopter that took off from an unnamed base along with Cobra attack helicopters.
Soldiers carrying machine guns and assault rifles could be seen advancing in deep snow on rugged hills.
The footage also showed a convoy of military vehicles transporting soldiers and black-and-white images of unspecified targets destroyed by air strikes.
The Anatolia news agency reported that security was increased on the Turkish side of the border with Iraq in a bid to prevent any rebel infiltration.
Turkish troops crossed into northern Iraq Thursday evening in the largest cross-border offensive in years against PKK hideouts in the region, bombing rebel positions and fighting the militants on the ground.
The Turkish army said Sunday that it had killed 112 PKK rebels and lost 15 soldiers since the beginning of the incursion, including a major and a captain who were the pilots of a Turkish chopper downed near Amadiyah on Saturday.
Ankara says an estimated 4,000 PKK rebels are holed up in northern Iraq and use the region as a springboard for attacks on Turkish territory as part of their campaign for self-rule in Kurdish-majority southeast Turkey.
The conflict has claimed more than 37,000 lives since the PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Ankara and much of the international community, took up arms in 1984.
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LOOKING BACK
23/02/08 Looking back at years of tension
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ANALYSIS
F24's International affairs editor, Robert Parsons on the Turkish offensive
