TURKISH MILITARY CONFIRMS EIGHT SOLDIERS MISSING
Author : DPA

Earthtimes, UK
Oct 22 2007

Ankara – The Turkish military on Monday afternoon confirmed that
eight of its soldiers were missing following fighting with Kurdish
rebels on Sunday and Monday that has left 12 soldiers and 34 Kurdish
Workers’ Party (PKK) guerrillas dead. In a short statement made on
its website, the General Staff confirmed that eight soldiers were
unaccounted for. The statement did not refer to PKK claims that the
eight soldiers had been taken hostage.

In the early hours of Sunday morning PKK guerrillas staged an ambush
near the village of Daglica in Hakkari province. The military said
that a group of around 150 rebels had crossed into Turkey from Iraq
and were attempting to return to bases in northern Iraq.

On Monday, Turkish media reported that Turkish forces, backed up by
helicopter gunships were attempting to stop the rebels from slipping
back into Iraq.

Turkish government and military leaders on Sunday evening said they
would do whatever is necessary to stop PKK attacks, including a
possible cross-border operation to destroy PKK bases.

"We respect Iraq’s territorial integrity but Turkey will not tolerate
terrorism … and will not be afraid to pay whatever price to protect
its rights," said a statement issued after the meeting.

Last week the parliament voted overwhelmingly to authorize the
government to order a cross-border operation but Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan has so far indicated that he is not in favour of an
immediate incursion.

According to the Turkish military, there are around 3,500 PKK
guerrillas based in mountainous northern Iraq.

More than 32,000 people have been killed since the PKK launched its
fight for independence or autonomy for the mainly Kurdish- populated
south-east.

Despite the PKK being listed as a terrorist group by the US State
Department, Washington is opposed to Turkey launching a cross-border
operation due to fears that such an incursion could spark unrest and
fighting in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq, the one area of Iraq
which is relatively calm.

Exactly how much leverage the US has over Turkey at the moment is
unclear as Turkey is extremely angry that a US congressional committee
resolution that passed last week labelled the World War I massacres
of Armenians in what was then the Ottoman Empire as a genocide.

Turkey denies that the killings constitute a genocide and that instead
the deaths came about because of an uprising of Armenians against
the state.