Turkey's military, government clash over Iraq, Kurds

Above: PKK fighters in Iraq

ANKARA (Reuters) - The chief of Turkey's powerful military General Staff accused Kurdish authorities in northern Iraq of actively backing Turkish Kurd rebels there and said Ankara must take action, a state news agency said on Saturday.

But, in a sign of growing tensions between Turkey's army and government over how to combat the guerrillas, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said soldiers should remain focused on their duties and let the politicians deal with political issues.

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said earlier this week Ankara wanted to build ties with the government of the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq, a move opposed by the army.

"At this moment, two groups are supporting the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) in northern Iraq," the state Anatolian news agency quoted General Yasar Buyukanit, chief of the General Staff, as saying after talks with U.S. officials in Washington.

Buyukanit was referring to the Iraq's main Kurdish parties.

"The Iraqi side of our shared border is completely unguarded. Iraq has conceded the whole border area to the PKK. Many armed terrorists are on the Iraqi side of the border," Buyukanit was quoted as saying.

Read the rest at Yahoo News

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