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Turkey's powerful military vowed early Friday to "give the necessary response" to Kurdish rebels hours after the guerrillas detonated a roadside bomb in southeast Turkey, killing three Turkish soldiers and injuring six other people.
The attack on Thursday evening occurred in an area that the Turkish military had declared a "temporary security zone" amid concern that it might stage a big incursion into Iraq to hunt separatist rebels.
The rebel bomb targeted a military vehicle near the city of Siirt, 75 kilometers (46 miles) north of the border with Iraq, the governor's office said. Six security personnel, including pro-government village guards, were injured.
The area where the attack occurred is mountainous, and home to rebel hideouts. Turkey has grown increasingly frustrated with escalating attacks by the rebel PKK movement in recent weeks, and is publicly debating whether to stage a large-scale operation in northern Iraq against guerrillas who cross over from safe havens there.
The General Staff issued a statement on its Web site early Friday, vowing to fight the rebels and calling on the nation to show its reaction.
"The Turkish Armed Forces has an unshakable determination in fighting terrorism, and it will absolutely give the necessary answer to such attacks," the military said. "The expectation of the Turkish Armed Forces from the Turkish nation to show their mass reflex to resist in the face of these terrorist actions."
The military said the country's national and unitary structure was in danger, and that escalating rebel attacks has shown the real aim of the "separatist and racist terrorist organization."
"Time has come to see the real face of these incidents for those individuals and institutions who at every opportunity use high values of humanity, such as freedom and democracy as a shield for the terrorist organization at home and abroad," the statement said.
On Wednesday, the military said it was establishing several "temporary security zones" near the border. The declaration came amid a Turkish military buildup on the border, and on the same day that Turkish security officials and an Iraqi Kurdish official said hundreds of Turkish troops crossed into northern Iraq in pursuit of Kurdish guerrillas.
Turkey's foreign minister denied there was a cross-border operation.
The military did not clarify what it meant by "temporary security zones," but some Turkish media reports said the areas would be off-limits to civilian flights. Others said the zones meant that additional security measures would be implemented, and entry into the regions would be restricted and tightly controlled.
In a statement posted on its Web site, the Turkish military released the coordinates of the areas that would be affected and said the zones would be in place until Sept. 9, but gave no other information.
Newspapers said the coordinates relate to areas of the provinces of Sirnak, Siirt and Hakkari. Sirnak and Hakkari border northern Iraq, while Siirt is farther north of the border. All three provinces have been the scene of fighting with Kurdish rebels.
The Turkish military has declared similar "security zones" in the past along the border with Iraq and in southeast Turkey as a way to keep civilians away from army maneuvers. It has also previously done so in the west of the country, along the Aegean coast, during live fire exercises.
Some Turkish officials have said that if troops stage a major incursion in Iraq, they might set up a buffer zone in Iraq to try to stop rebel infiltration.
The Iraqi president, Jalal Talabani, on Thursday cautioned Turkey against an operation and urged cooperation.
"We ask Almighty God to lead all of us to the way of dialogue and negotiation to solve all questions," Talabani said at a news conference. "There is a tripartite, American-Iraqi-Turkish committee that is responsible for solving these matters."
Speaking as commander-in-chief of Iraqi military forces, he said Iraq would not accept external interference and "will defend by all means its sovereignty and the independence of the nation."
Three Turkish officials described Wednesday's cross-border operation as a "hot pursuit" raid that was limited in scope, and one of them said troops returned to their bases by the end of the day. Turkey has conducted such brief raids in the past, but the latest incident comes as rebels are escalating attacks in their decades-old fight for autonomy in southeastern Turkey.
The security officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul denied forces had entered Iraq.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said an incursion into northern Iraq would require parliamentary approval, and Gen. Yasar Buyukanit, the military chief, said he needs the go-ahead from political leaders for a cross-border offensive.
"The Turkish soldier is not a bully of the neighborhood," private NTV and CNN-Turk television quoted Buyukanit as saying. "There is need for political directives."
Turkey wants the United States and Iraqi Kurds to act on their appeals for a crackdown on separatist fighters, who raid southeast Turkey after resting, training and resupplying in Iraq.
Meanwhile, the death toll in a suicide attack in the capital last month rose to eight — including the bomber — after another seriously injured victim died in a hospital, doctors said Thursday.
Turkish officials suspect Kurdish rebels, who have been fighting for autonomy since 1984, were behind the rush-hour attack outside a busy shopping mall. The rebel PKK group denied responsibility. |
