By Paul de Bendern
ANKARA (Reuters) - Thousands of Turkish troops have crossedinto northern Iraq with thousands more at the border ready tojoin them in their hunt for Kurdish PKK guerrillas, a seniormilitary source said on Friday.
Turkey's military said the land offensive would besupported by fighter jets and Turkish television reported that10,000 troops had entered 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 source based in southeast Turkey told Reuters:"Thousands of troops have crossed the border and thousands moreare waiting at the border to join them if necessary."
The U.S. military said it was aware that Turkish forces hadlaunched an offensive into northern Iraq against members of theKurdistan Workers Party (PKK), considered a terrorist group byAnkara, the United States and the European Union.
Rear Admiral Gregory Smith, a U.S. military spokesman inBaghdad, said the operation was understood to be of "limitedduration" and specifically targeted at PKK fighters in thelargely autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq.
"Turkey has given its assurances that it will do everythingpossible to avoid collateral damage to innocent citizens orKurdish infrastructure," Smith said in a statement.
NATO member Turkey says it has the right underinternational law to hit PKK rebels who take shelter innorthern Iraq and have mounted attacks inside Turkey that havekilled scores of troops. Turkey says it believes some 3,000 PKKrebels are based in Iraq.
Turkey's military said the cross-border offensive waslaunched at 7 p.m. (5 p.m. British time) on Thursday.
NTV said troops had moved 10 km (6 miles) inside Iraq.
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.
"NOT THE GREATEST NEWS"
A senior U.S. State Department official said the landincursion was "not the greatest 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.
Iraq has repeatedly called for a diplomatic solution todeal with the separatist PKK 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 PKK, but failed to dislodgethem.
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 Michael Holden and Mariam Karounyin Baghdad, Paul Taylor in Brussels, and Selcuk Gokoluk inAnkara; Editing by Elizabeth Piper)
