LONDON — Turkey was said to have massed troops along its southern
border with Iraq.
Kurdish opposition sources said thousands of Turkish troops have been
gathering in positions near the Iraqi border. They said
the Turkish military formation was taking place in the Kurdish areas of
southeastern Turkey.
The Turkish troops deployed near the Iraqi border were identified as
units of two commando brigades, Bolu and Kayseri. The sources said the
commando forces were seen in the Cukurca district of Hakkari.
The sources said more than 10,000 troops have been deployed in Cukurca.
They said information on the troop concentrations was relayed by the Turkish
Gendarmerie Command to forces in the district.
"It was learned that these preparations are being carried out within the
framework of an operation against south Kurdistan [northern Iraq]," the
Kurdish television Roj, based in Copenhagen, reported on April 26.
On May 1, the Kurdish Workers Party claimed responsibility for an
explosion in the western Turkish resort town of Kusdasi in which a police
officer was killed. The Kurdish Liberation Hawks, a PKK wing, saying it also
planted bombs in Istanbul, warned Westerners to leave Turkey.
Ankara has long warned that it would not tolerate the presence of the
PKK in northern Iraq. About 5,000 PKK fighters were said
to have been operating along the northern border and operatives were sent to
Turkey for insurgency attacks.
''It is apparent that the issue of security has become a matter of
concern for Iraq's neighbors," Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said.
"More and more terrorist activities are being carried out by a narrower
group."
Roj said many of the Kurds in the area have sold their livestock and
left the Cukurca district. The television said residents in Cukurca have
demanded the withdrawal of military units.
The television said the Bolu Commando Brigade, deployed in the Lice
district of Diyarbakir, has been preparing to launch attacks in northern
Iraq. Roj cited such Iraqi targets as Akdag, Andok, Dorse, Saggoze and
Senyayla regions.
Kurdish sources said the Turkish military build-up could be connected to
setbacks for ethnic Turks in northern Iraq. The sources said Turkmen groups
have been racked by discord and defections that have divided the pro-Ankara
movement.
The PKK presence in northern Iraq was a major issue on the agenda of a
meeting by foreign ministers of Iraq and its neighbors in Istanbul on
Monday. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said the government in Baghdad
was not ready to confront the Kurdish insurgents.
"Iraq will need more time before it can deal with the presence of
militants of the terrorist PKK taking shelter in the north of
the country," Zebari said. "It's not only the PKK. There are militants from
Iranian dissident groups. These were groups that Saddam Hussein welcomed."