Turks say US pressure won't stop attack

FE Team | Published: October 27, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

ISTANBUL, Oct 26 (Agencies): Turkey warned Thursday that U.S. objections will not stop its troops from crossing into Iraq to pursue Kurdish separatists, while a steady stream of U.S.-made Turkish fighter jets roared across the skies along the borderHigh-level Iraqi officials arrived in Turkey as part of frantic efforts to persuade thegovernment not to order an attack on Kurdish guerrilla bases in northern Iraq, and the U.S. ambassador to Iraq sent American diplomats to join the delegation.
Turkey's leaders have been demanding that U.S. and Iraqi authorities stop Turkish Kurd rebels from staging attacks across the frontier, threatening to send in a large-scale offensive if nothing is done soon.
Turkey still seems willing to refrain from a big attack until at least early next month, when it is scheduled to host foreign ministers to discuss Iraq. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to go to Washington afterward for talks with President Bush.
Turkish artillery has been periodically firing across the border, and Turkish television showed video of smoke rising from three villages in northern Iraq that were purportedly hit by shells Thursday.
Dogan news agency, which provided the footage, said there were no casualties because villagers had fled their homes. It did not cite a source. The agency identified one of the villages as Hezil, three miles from the border with Turkey's Hakkari province.
The army, meanwhile, reported a clash with rebels earlier in the week. It said a "group of terrorists" was spotted preparing an attack near a military outpost in Semdinli province close to Iraq on Tuesday and troops opened fire with tank cannon, artillery and other heavy weapons.
The report on the military's Web site also increased the official number for rebels killed since Sunday to at least 64.
The rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, denied suffering any casualties and called the military statement a "lie," the pro-Kurdish Firat news agency said.
U.S. officials are urging Turkey not to launch an incursion that could destabilize Iraq's autonomous Kurdish north, the country's most stable region.
But Erdogan said the U.S. desire to protect the north would not hinder Turkey's fight against PKK guerrillas. The rebels use mountain bases in Iraq to rest, train and get supplies in relative safety before returning to Turkey to attack government forces in the heavily Kurdish southeast.
The Bush administration "might wish that we do not carry out a cross-border offensive, but we make the decision on what we have to do," Erdogan said during a visit to Romania. "We have taken necessary steps in this struggle so far, and now we are forced to take this step and we will take it."
He said the U.S. should repay Turkish assistance for the invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001 by supporting Turkey's struggle against the Kurdish rebels, who have demanded autonomy and more democratic rights for Kurds in southeastern Turkey.
Erdogan's government is facing growing pressure in his streets to move against the rebels, who have stepped up violence in recent weeks.
Tens of thousands of Turks have joined in demonstrations or attended funerals for slain troops this week to demand tough action after a dozen soldiers were killed and eight went missing in a rebel ambush Sunday. The Kurdish rebels say they captured the eight.