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Turkish planes bomb Kurdish rebels |
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Written by Agencies
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Wednesday, 24 October 2007 14:06 |
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Turkish warplanes and helicopters have been bombing Kurdish separatist positions along the Iraqi-Turkish frontier amid continuing diplomatic efforts to avert a major cross-border incursion by Turkish military forces. Aerial strikes had been going on since sunday with several F-16 warplanes loaded with bombs taking off from Turkish Air Force bases. Some unconfirmed media reports said the Turkish aircraft had flown into Iraqi territory. The Turkish government have threatened an incursion into Iraq following months of frustration over raids by PKK terorists. The Turkish authorities say the PKK militants have killed at least 42 people within Turkey in the past month, including 12 soldiers in an ambush on Sunday.
Turkey has repeatedly called on Iraq and the U.S. to crackdown on PKK operations within Iraqi territory. The PKK is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S., the European Union and Turkey.
With tens of thousands of troops in place along Iraq's northern frontier, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters during a visit to London on Tuesday that cross-border raids targeting the PKK could be launched "at any time" and warned Turkey could not "wait forever" for a diplomatic solution to the crisis.
Earlier this week, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in a joint statement with British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, called for a conference to be held in Istanbul, Turkey, next month to discuss diplomatic solutions to the crisis.
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