Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Turkish PM Erdogan: 'We expect the United States and Iraq to destroy' PKK bases


Above: PKK fighters in Iraq.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) - Turkey's prime minister said Tuesday that the United States and Iraq should destroy bases of separatist Kurdish guerrillas in northern Iraq.

The comment by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on private NTV television came amid heightened debate in Turkey about whether the Turkish military should stage a cross-border operation in pursuit of Kurdish rebels based in Iraq. Last week, a suicide bomb blamed on the rebels killed six people in Ankara, and a bomb in a southeastern area where guerrillas are active killed six Turkish soldiers.

"We expect the United States and Iraq to destroy, scatter bases of terrorists there," Erdogan said. "Our expectations have been relayed to the opposite side. We have to achieve results. It would not be right to spell out a deadline."

Erdogan did not rule out a cross-border Turkish operation against the rebels.

Read the rest at AOL News

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