Iraq Calls on Turkey to Withdraw Soldiers

On Friday, the Turkish army launched a combined air and ground attack on the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Northern Iraq, in which 15 soldiers and 112 PKK militants are said to have died so far.

The soldiers of the unit which took part in the first ground operations on Friday, 22 February, have returned to their base in Cukurca, in the south-eastern province of Hakkari.

Iraq calls for withdrawal of troops 

Cnnturk.com has quoted the Iraqi government as demanding the withdrawal of Turkish troops from Northern Iraq “as quickly as possible”:

“The Iraqi government considers a unilateral Turkish military operation as a threat to regional stability and a violation of Iraq’s sovereignty.”

Turkey is sending a special delegation to Iraq on Wednesday.

Ali Debbag, spokesperson for the Iraqi government, had said previously that Turkish commanders had promised that operations would be limited, and that Turkish soldiers were taking pains to keep that promise. He had said, “We believe that the operations of the Turkish Armed Forces do not harm the Iraqi sovereignty. We know that the PKK is a threat for Turkey.”

He added, “We have told Turkey that these operations must not destroy the stability of Iraq and other countries in the region.”

Gates: Military operations will not solve the problem

Cnnturk.com further reported that US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has asked Turkey that the operations in Northern Iraq be of a short duration.

He said that he hoped that the operations would take a short time, that loss of civilian life would be avoided, and that the Turkish army would leave at the end of operations. Gates also called on Turkey to strengthen its dialogue with the Kurds living in Turkey. Referring to Afghanistan and Iraq, Gates pointed out that military solutions on their own were not enough, and that other initiatives should be tried.

Turkey's military assault into northern Iraq would not solve the terrorist problem there, Gates said, calling for greater political and economic initiatives by the Turks to win over supporters of the Kurdish rebels, wrote the Associated Press.

Speaking as the Turkish military continued its first major ground incursion into Iraq since 2003, Gates said it will take a broader approach, similar to U.S. and coalition efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, to erode support for the rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, in northern Iraq.

"I think all our experience in Iraq and Afghanistan shows us that while dealing with a terrorist problem does require security operations, it also requires economic and political initiatives," Gates told reporters. He said a consistent message from the U.S. to the Turkish government is that military efforts must be supplemented by other political and economic outreach to Kurds.”

Independent: "The new invasion" 

The British Independent newspaper has defined Turkey’s cross-border operations as “the new invasion of Iraq”, saying:

“A new crisis has exploded in Iraq after Turkish troops, supported by attack planes and Cobra helicopters, yesterday launched a major ground offensive into Iraqi Kurdistan."

"The invading Turkish soldiers are in pursuit of Kurdish guerrillas hiding in the mountains. They are seeking to destroy the camps of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) along the border between Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan.”

The newspaper goes on to say,

“Turkish television said that the number of Turkish troops involved was between 3,000 and 10,000, and they had moved 16 miles inside Iraq.
But the escalating Turkish attacks are destabilising the Kurdish region of Iraq which is the one peaceful part of the country and has visibly benefited from the US invasion."

"The Iraqi Kurds are America's closest allies in Iraq and the only Iraqi community to support fully the US occupation. The president of the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government, Massoud Barzani, said recently he felt let down by the failure of the Iraqi government in Baghdad to stop Turkish bombing raids on Iraqi territory."

"The incursion is embarrassing for the US, which tried to avert it, because the American military provides intelligence to the Turkish armed forces about the location of the camps of Turkish Kurd fighters. Immediately before the operation began, the Turkish Prime Minister, Tayyip Erdogan, called President George Bush to warn him.” (NZ/TK/AG)