Democrats will be known for Iraq surrender; Time now for homeland defense
PKK FLEES IRAQI CAMPS IN FEAR OF TURKEY
ANKARA — Kurdish insurgents were said to be fleeing their camps in
northern Iraq ahead of what they fear was an imminent invasion by Turkey.
Members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party said thousands of insurgents
were leaving bases and camps in the Kandil mountains in northern Iraq. They
said
they had been warned by the autonomous Iraqi Kurdish government of a ground
invasion by tens of thousands of Turkish troops.
"In the last few days the rumors of a cross-border operation have
triggered fear within the organization," an ex-PKK member said. "All the
camps have been emptied."
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On July 1, four ex-PKK members reported the flight of their former
colleagues from bases in northern Iraq. The four surrendered to Turkish
authorities after they fled an unidentified PKK camp in northern Iraq and
crossed the border into Turkey's Sirnak province.
Ankara has reported some 3,000 PKK operatives in northern Iraq and
another 1,800 fighters inside Turkey. Officials said PKK members were
infiltrating Turkey for improvised explosive device attacks on civilian and
military targets.
The four ex-PKK members conducted a televised news conference at a
Turkish paramilitary camp in Sirnak. They said the U.S. army was delivering
weapons to the PKK. In one incident, they said, two U.S. armored vehicles
arrived at a PKK camp with weapons.
The U.S. embassy has denied any official contact with the PKK. The
embassy issued a statement that denied any links to the PKK.
"The United States is not supplying weapons to the PKK," U.S. ambassador
to Turkey Ross Wilson said on Tuesday. "It is United States policy that we
will have no contacts with the PKK."
