By Shamal Aqrawi
ZAKHU, Iraq (Reuters) - Turkish troops and Kurdish PKKrebels fought battles in northern Iraq on Sunday that leftscores dead on the fourth day of a major ground offensiveBaghdad and Washington fear could further destabilise Iraq.
Iraq's government said Turkey should withdraw its troops assoon as possible and urged Ankara to sit down with Baghdad fortalks to resolve the crisis over the PKK.
Ankara launched the land offensive on Thursday after monthsof aerial bombardment of PKK targets in the remote, mountainousregion. It accuses rebels of using northern Iraq as a base tostage attacks inside Turkey.
Turkey's General Staff said 33 PKK rebels, including aleader, and eight soldiers died in heavy, close combat in poorweather conditions on Sunday. It said at least 112 rebels and15 soldiers have died since the operation began.
"The hot pursuit continues in three different regions (ofnorthern Iraq) and our teams will carry out the operation withthe same decisiveness and heroism," the General Staff said inas statement.
The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has been battlingfor decades to create a Kurdish homeland in southeast Turkey,disputed the figures. It said 47 Turkish troops and two rebelshad been killed.
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan sought to reassure theinternational community that Turkey's cross-border operationwas focused on the PKK and would be limited in duration.
"Our Iraqi brothers should know that this operation is onlyto clean the terrorist camps and terrorists," he said.
But Iraq's government said it viewed the military action as"a threat to the stability of the region and a violation ofIraq's sovereignty and calls on Turkey to pull its troops fromIraq as soon as possible".
"The Iraqi government calls on Turkey to enter intobilateral dialogue with the Iraqi government and considers thethreat of the PKK as a threat to Turkey and to the borderareas," it said in a statement.
HELICOPTER
The PKK said it shot down a Cobra attack helicopter onSaturday. The military said a helicopter had been renderedineffective but said the cause was unknown.
Turkish special forces were parachuted into northern Iraqon Sunday as F-16, Cobra attack helicopter and artillery firepounded suspected PKK positions, Turkish media reported.
"The bombings are continuing by land and by air, theclashes are becoming heavier," a Turkish military source toldReuters on Sunday. Twenty five more tanks had been sent to theregion.
A senior military source told Reuters two brigades made upof 8,000 troops are taking part in the offensive. Turkish mediahave put the troop numbers at 10,000 but a senior officer withU.S.-led coalition forces in Baghdad said they were under1,000.
Washington is sharing intelligence with NATO ally Turkey onPKK movements in Iraq but has urged Ankara to limit thecampaign to precise rebel targets and to bring it to a swiftconclusion.
The United States and the European Union fear a prolongedmilitary campaign inside Iraq would raise the risk of seriousclashes between Turkish and Iraqi Kurdish forces and alsoundermine the fragile U.S.-backed government in Baghdad.
The autonomous Iraqi Kurdish administration of northernIraq has vowed a tough response if civilians come under attack.
"The Kurdish Peshmerga (security) forces are on a state ofalert and will defend themselves if the Turkish forces launchan incursion into areas under the control of the Kurdistanregional government," Peshmerga spokesman Jabbar Yawar toldReuters.
An official in Iraq's Northern Oil Company said thefighting would not hit Iraqi oil exports to the Turkish port ofCeyhan because the pipeline did not pass through the conflictarea.
U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates -- who will visitAnkara later this week -- said on Sunday Turkey's campaignwould not solve its problems with the rebels. Turkey shouldimprove communication with Baghdad about the operation andother efforts against the PKK, he said.
The pro-PKK Firat news agency, which is based in Europe,quoted a top PKK commander in Iraq as urging Kurds in Turkishcities to join the fight against the Turkish state.
Ankara blames the PKK for the deaths of nearly 40,000people since the group launched its armed struggle in 1984 foran ethnic homeland in southeast Turkey. Turkish militaryoperations in northern Iraq in the 1990s failed to wipe out theguerrillas.
(Additional reporting by Gareth Jones in Ankara, DarenButler in Sirnak and Baghdad and Tehran bureaux)
(Writing by Gareth Jones and Paul de Bendern; Editing byJon Boyle)
