Turkey continues raids in northern Iraq

Talks between Turkish and Iraqi officials yield nothing, as Pentagon chief Gates arrives in Ankara for talks. He says he'll urge a quick end to the operation.
By Borzou Daragahi and Peter Spiegel
Los Angeles Times Staff Writers

February 28, 2008

BAGHDAD — A sixth day of fighting continued Wednesday between Turkish troops and Kurdish rebels in Iraq as U.S., Turkish and Iraqi officials clashed over terms for ending the conflict.

Iraqi officials have demanded that Turkey halt the operation in the northeastern mountains of Iraq and withdraw immediately.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who arrived in Ankara, the Turkish capital, Wednesday night, told reporters he intended to advise Turkish leaders that their incursion into northern Iraq must last no more than a few weeks. He also planned to tell them that the military operation should be complemented by political efforts to resolve the grievances of the Kurdish minority in eastern Turkey.

But Turkey ruled out specifying a timetable for an end to the offensive.

"Our objective is clear, our mission is clear and there is no timetable until . . . those terrorist bases are eliminated," Turkish envoy Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters after talks in Baghdad with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari.

Turkish troops, artillery and fighter planes pushed into the northern Iraqi mountain stronghold of the Kurdistan Workers Party, known by its Kurdish acronym PKK, which has been fighting a guerrilla war against the Turkish government for a quarter-century.

Kurds, spread out over Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria, constitute the world's largest ethnic group without a nation. They have periodically clashed with the region's Arab, Iranian and Turkish governments. And Turkey has long complained that PKK fighters have used the semiautonomous Kurdish enclave in northern Iraq as a base to launch attacks.

Gates is scheduled to meet with Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recip Tayyip Erdogan, as well as the country's military leadership, today. He said he would use the meetings to caution the government that the Bush administration expected Turkish troops to return to their side of the border quickly.

"Making this operation as quick and as precisely targeted as possible and then getting out is important," Gates told a small group of reporters in New Delhi before departing Wednesday for Ankara. "I measure quick in terms of days, a week or two, something like that, not months."

The incursion has become increasingly awkward for the U.S. as the Iraqi Cabinet and the Kurdish regional government have condemned the move, calling it a violation of Iraqi sovereignty.

Both Turkey and Iraq are U.S. allies, and Washington has been providing intelligence to Ankara on operations of the PKK, which has been carrying out attacks on Turkish military and civilian targets in the border regions.

Gates declined to comment on what the United States would do about the growing tensions between Turkey and Iraq, saying he would wait for discussions with Turkish leaders before making any assessments.

The Pentagon chief said the military action by Turkey would not solve the problem of Kurdish insurgency unless it was accompanied by economic development in Kurdish territories and the political will to address the community's grievances.

"There certainly is a place for security operations, but these also need to be accompanied with economic and political initiatives that begin to deal with some of the issues that provide a favorable local environment where the PKK can operate," Gates said. "They need to address some of the issues and complaints that some of the Kurds have."

The latest Turkish offensive began after months of efforts by Turkish officials failed to convince Iraqi and U.S. security officials to crack down on the PKK.

Reports on casualty figures differed. Turkish officials said 77 Kurdish fighters were "neutralized," but did not elaborate, and five Turkish soldiers and three village guards were killed in the fighting. A PKK official said five of the group's fighters had been killed in the last round of clashes.

Witnesses said 50 families were displaced amid heavy artillery bombardment. Kurds said the Turks destroyed several bridges and planted mines around new encampments deep inside Iraqi territory.

A PKK spokesman said the group's fighters were succeeding.

"We have the Turkish forces trapped," said Ahmed Denis, a PKK spokesman reached by telephone.

Since the 1990s, Turkey has launched dozens of offensives against PKK strongholds in northern Iraq, often with the tacit or explicit permission of Iraqi Kurds. But the latest operation comes at a time of heightened Kurdish nationalism and clout in Iraq and has sparked angry protests among Kurds as well as vehement denunciations by Iraqi officials.

The Kurdistan regional government's parliament, based in Irbil, on Tuesday authorized its troops to attack Turkish forces if they expanded their offensive beyond the PKK's forbidding mountain hide-outs.

The Turkish delegation that arrived Wednesday in Baghdad was met with icy comments. The diplomats emerged for a media appearance after 2 1/2 hours of talks. Foreign Minister Zebari, a Kurd, described the latest incursion as "unprecedented" and "not acceptable."

"Our message to the Turks is to cease the military operation immediately and to withdraw the Turkish military troops as soon as possible and to negotiate with Iraq to solve this problem," he said.

For his part, Turkish diplomat Davutoglu extended an invitation to Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, also a Kurd, to travel to Ankara on an official state visit. "The invitation is accepted," Zebari said, "provided the timing is convenient and there are no Turkish troops on Iraqi territory."

daragahi@latimes.com

peter.spiegel@latimes.com

Daragahi reported from Baghdad and Spiegel from Ankara. Special correspondents Asso Ahmed in Irbil, Yesim Comert in Istanbul, Turkey, and others in Baghdad contributed to this report.