Turkey army launches land offensive into N.Iraq
ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey's military said on Friday it hadlaunched a cross-border land offensive backed by fighter jetsinto northern Iraq on Thursday evening to hunt down Kurdish PKKguerrillas.
Turkish television reported, without citing sources, that10,000 troops had entered Iraqi territory. NTV said troops hadmoved 10 km (6 miles) inside Iraq.
"The Turkish Armed Forces, which attach great importance toIraq's territorial integrity and stability, will return home inthe shortest time possible after its goals have been achieved,"the General Staff said in a statement posted on its Web site.
The military's General Staff said the cross-borderoffensive was launched at 7 p.m. (5 p.m. British time) onThursday.
A senior U.S. official said the land incursion was "not thegreatest news".
"A land operation is a whole new level," Deputy AssistantSecretary of State Matthew Bryza told reporters in Brussels.
He said Washington had been cooperating fully with Turkeyin providing intelligence on PKK positions in northern Iraqsince last November to enable the Turkish air force to makepinpointed attacks minimising civilian casualties.
The European Union and the United States have in the pastraised concern that a major cross-border offensive coulddestabilise the region, though have not criticised recentsmall-scale cross-border raids over the past two months.
In Baghdad, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said hisgovernment was not aware of any Turkish ground offensive.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki called on his Turkishcounterpart on Thursday evening to respect Iraq's borders afterrenewed shelling. President Jalal Talabani accepted aninvitation from Turkish President Abdullah Gul to visit Turkey.
Turkish financial markets dipped slightly on news of theoffensive, a possibility that had been mooted by ForeignMinister Ali Babacan on Tuesday and in a statement fromTurkey's National Security Council (MGK) after a meeting onThursday.
Broadcaster CNN Turk said Turkey, which has the secondlargest army in NATO, had informed Washington and Baghdad aboutits planned ground offensive.
SHELTERING
Turkey says it has the right under international law to hitPKK rebels who take shelter in northern Iraq and have mountedattacks inside Turkey that have killed scores of troops.
Iraq has repeatedly called for a diplomatic solution todeal with the PKK guerrillas but Turkey's government is underdomestic pressure to take military action against the rebels.
Turkey launched several major land offensives in the 1990sinto northern Iraq against the outlawed separatist PKK,considered a terrorist organisation by the United States andthe European Union as well as by Ankara.
Turkey's military said the PKK was the target of the groundoffensive and pledged it would continue to act with thenecessary restraint towards local northern Iraqi groups.
"Turkish troops will stay in the region as long as theconditions dictate this. It will be very difficult for the PKKto re-base itself in northern Iraq," Turkey's formercounter-terrorism chief, retired General Edip Baser, told NTV.
Ankara blames the PKK for the deaths of nearly 40,000people since it began an armed struggle for a separatistKurdish homeland in 1984.
(Additional reporting by Mariam Karouny in Baghdad andSelcuk Gokoluk in Ankara; Editing by Elizabeth Piper)