Turkey withdraws troops from northern Iraq

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey pulled its troops out of northernIraq on Friday, ending a major offensive against Kurdish PKKrebels that Washington feared could spread conflict through theregion.

A statement by Turkey's armed forces General Staff deniedany foreign influence on the decision, which came a day afterU.S President George W. Bush urged a swift end to theoffensive.

"There was no question of completely liquidating theterrorist organisation, but Turkey has shown the organisationthat northern Iraq is not a safe haven for them," the GeneralStaff said.

Turkey sent thousands of soldiers into mountainous northernIraq on February 21 to crush rebels of the outlawed KurdistanWorkers Party (PKK) who use the region as a base for attacks onTurkish territory.

"It was determined that the aims set at the start of theoperation had been achieved," the General Staff said in itsstatement. "Our units returned to their bases (in Turkey) onthe morning of February 29."

Announcing the withdrawal ahead of the General Staff, IraqiForeign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari welcomed the decision toleave.

But Turkey's Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin, quoted byTV networks, said Ankara reserved the right to send troopsagain into Iraq if needed. A parliamentary mandate allowing thearmy to stage cross-border operations only expires in October.

Washington, like Ankara and the EU, brands the PKK aterrorist organisation, and has been supplying intelligence tothe Turkish military on the PKK in Iraq.

U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates, on a brief trip toAnkara on Thursday, urged a short, carefully targeted campaign.

PKK WEAKENED

Turkey's military said it had killed 240 rebels andsuffered the loss of 27 soldiers during the eight-dayoffensive, waged in deep snow and subzero temperatures in toughmountainous terrain.

The PKK said it killed more than 130 Turkish troops butonly five rebels had died. It was not possible to verify thefigures.

Turkey had said the ground operation, backed by warplanes,tanks, long-range artillery and attack helicopters, wouldcontinue until the PKK no longer posed a threat to Turkey.

The withdrawal without apparently rooting out all PKKbases, especially in the Qandil mountains, will raise questionsabout how seriously weakened the rebel movement has been.

Retired Turkish general Edip Baser told NTV he believed themilitary had achieved its goals in Iraq.

"The army damaged the infrastructure in such a way that thePKK cannot rebuild it. It was of course not possible toeradicate the PKK in such a short time," Baser said.

Adding to the impression of a decision taken in some haste,Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's office had to change the textof a planned address by the premier to the nation scheduled forFriday evening to take into account the withdrawal of troops.

His office had earlier circulated to media an embargoedcopy of the speech which spoke of continuing militaryoperations.

Turkish leaders have been under domestic pressure to crackdown on the estimated 3,000 PKK members who stage deadlycross-border attacks against Turkish targets.

The PKK in northern Iraq claimed victory over Turkey.

"Because of the fierce battles between the PKK and theTurkish forces, the Turkish forces have withdrawn," said AhmedDanees, the PKK's foreign relations spokesman in northern Iraq.

Iraqi Kurds, long suspicious of neighbouring Turkey, fearit is seeking to undermine the autonomy of Iraq's oil-richKurdistan region. Ankara says it wants only to end terrorism.

"The withdrawal of Turkish troops is a positive developmenttowards improving relations in the region. We hope thiswithdrawal is in earnest. War serves no one," said MohammedIhsan, a Kurdish regional minister.

Ankara blames the PKK for the deaths of nearly 40,000people since the group first took up arms in 1984 for an ethnichomeland in southeast Turkey.

A senior Turkish military source said earlier this weekthat around 10,000 troops had been involved in the operation inIraq, which mainly centred on the Zap valley.

(Additional reporting by Mariam Karouny in Baghdad andDaren Butler in Istanbul; Editing by Dominic Evans)