Turkish MPs back attacks in Iraq
Turkey’s parliament has given permission for the government to launch
military operations into Iraq in pursuit of Kurdish rebels.
The vote was taken in defiance of pressure from the US and Iraq, which
have called on Turkey for restraint.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said the motion does
not mean a military operation is imminent.
But he said Turkey needed to be able to respond to a recent rise in
bomb attacks blamed on PKK rebels from Iraq.
Turkish MPs backed him overwhelmingly, by 507 votes to 19.
As the vote was being counted, President George W Bush strongly urged
America’s Turkish ally not to carry out the threatened action.
He said Washington was "making it clear to Turkey it is not in their
interest to send more troops in… there is a better way to deal with
the issue".
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki had earlier phoned the Turkish prime
minister, saying he was "absolutely determined" to remove the PKK from
Iraq and pleading for more time, according to Turkey’s Anatolia news
agency.
The autonomous Kurdish regional government in northern Iraq warned
Turkish MPs that any intervention would be "illegal". It has denied
providing the PKK with any help.
The rebels themselves said they would meet force with force.
The chief of the PKK’s executive council, Murat Karayilan, told the
Kurdish Hawlati newspaper: "Thousands of PKK guerrillas are on standby
to fight Turkish army forces."
However Syrian President Bashar Assad, visiting Turkey, said he
supported the country’s right to take the action "against terrorism
and terrorist activities".
President Bush, speaking during a press conference, criticised
Congress for jeopardising US relations with Turkey with a planned vote
to recognise the mass killing of Armenians in Ottoman times as
genocide.
"One thing Congress should not be doing is sorting out the historical
record of the Ottoman Empire," he said.
Although a Congressional committee has supported the motion, its
chances of passing a full vote appear to be waning.
Key Democrats in the US House of Representatives have joined
Republicans to warn that US strategic interests could be damaged by
the largely symbolic resolution.
Published: 2007/10/17 15:37:13 GMT
(c) BBC MMVII
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