Turkey continues buildup along border

FE Team | Published: October 24, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

SIRNAK, (Turkey), Oct 23 (agencies): Turkey's foreign minister flew to Baghdad Tuesday to pressure top Iraqi officials to crackdown on Kurdish rebels who ambushed and killed 12 Turkish soldiers two days beforeMeanwhile, Turkey's buildup of troops along its border with Iraq continued, asmilitary helicopters airlifted commando units into the area overnight.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was quoted Tuesday in the country's leading daily Hurriyet as saying that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had talked of a possible joint U.S.-Turkish operation against the rebels during a telephone call Sunday.
Turkey's Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said Monday that Turkey will pursue diplomacy before sending in its military.
The military movements overnight came just two days after a rebel ambush near the Iraqi border left 12 Turkish soldiers dead and eight missing. Several helicopters ferried commando units and pro-government Kurdish village guards for five hours toward the border, reporters said. The governor's office said more combat-experienced units were being deployed.
The airlift of troops late Monday came several hours after dozens of Turkish military vehicles loaded with soldiers and heavy weapons rumbled toward the Iraqi border. Turkish F-16 warplanes were also ready to take off from several bases in southeastern Turkey, according to local reports.
The military launched a major operation in retaliation to Sunday's rebel attack that killed 12 soldiers and wounded 16 others. Since the rebel attack, Turkish troops, backed by Cobra helicopter gunships, have killed 34 guerrillas, the military said.
Eight soldiers were reported missing by the military Monday and the rebel group claimed they have captured the soldiers and released their names. Turkish officials, however, said the search was continuing for soldiers from Sunday's attack and would not comment on the rebels' claims.
If confirmed, the seizure would be the largest since 1995, when guerrillas grabbed eight soldiers and took them to northern Iraq before releasing them two years later.
The rebel group Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, on Monday called on Turkey not to attack Iraq, claiming that a unilateral rebel cease-fire declared in June was still in place although it did not halt fighting.