TURKISH WARPLANES BOMB IRAQ

PanARMENIAN.Net
24.12.2007 15:54 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkish warplanes bombed Kurdish guerrilla targets
in northern Iraq on Saturday in a new cross-border offensive, the
General Staff said.

The Turkish military said the offensive against outlawed Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas inside Turkey and across the border
in northern Iraq would continue.

"Turkish Air Force warplanes struck important targets of the
PKK/KONGRA-GEL terror group in northern Iraq … between the hours of
14:25-15:00 (7:25 a.m. – 8 a.m. EST)," the General Staff statement,
posted on its website, said.

"The PKK will understand through experience that northern Iraq is
not a safe place and they will understand once again that they have
no chance against the Turkish military," it said.

Turkey says it has the right to use force to combat separatist rebels
who shelter in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq
and mount attacks in which they have killed dozens of Turkish troops
in recent months.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan did not confirm or deny a Turkish
raid on Sunday. But he defended the country’s right to use military
force to attack the PKK across the border. "We are using our rights
based on international law," he said.

The United States, which lists the PKK as a terrorist group, says
it shares common interests with Turkey in stopping PKK activities
in Iraq but fears a further escalation in tension could destabilize
Iraq’s more stable north and the region.

The military said the Turkish warplanes returned safely to bases after
the attacks. It said it was too early to give any casualty figures.

Iraqi Kurdish security forces said they had suffered no casualties
in the bombing.

"The aerial bombardment didn’t result in any people killed because
the area is almost deserted because of fear of aerial and mortar
attacks from the Turkish side," Jabbar Yawer, spokesman for Iraqi
Kurdish Peshmerga security forces, said, Reuters reports.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress