"Most of our losses were caused by heavy weapons fire from the north of
Iraq," Turkish military spokesman Gen. Metin Gurak said.
The PKK strike stunned the government of Prime Minister Recep Erdogan
and prompted massive air and artillery strikes on Kurdish positions in
northern Iraq. Erdogan cut short his tour of Central Asia and returned home
while parliament was asked to extend the military's mandate to continue
attacks on Iraq.
Officials said the Turkish military deployed F-16 multi-role fighters,
AH-1W attack helicopters and 155 mm artillery systems in attacks on Iraq.
They said an undetermined number of PKK operatives in Iraq were killed.
"Twenty-three terrorists were neutralized in the clashes [at Aktutun],"
Gurak said. "It is not yet clear how many terrorists were killed by
artillery fire and in the strikes by the air force."
Analysts said the PKK strike on Aktutun took the military by surprise.
In September 2008, Turkish Chief of Staff Gen. Ilker Basbug said the PKK was
on the verge of collapse.
"There seems to be a major intelligence failure," [Ret.] Maj. Gen.
Necati Ozgen, a former commander of the Aktutun base, said. "It is
impossible for a large group to reach as far as the base without being
noticed by villagers or [paramilitary] Village Guards."
[On Oct. 6, the Turkish military said F-16 fighters again struck PKK
targets in northern Iraq. A military statement said the Turkish aircraft
targeted Iraq's Avasin Basyan and returned safely to base.]
Officials said PKK operatives have been infiltrating Turkey from Iraq as
part of an urban warfare campaign. On Oct. 4, Turkish authorities announced
the capture of a senior PKK operative at Istanbul airport. The operative,
identified as Morko Ramazan, was said to have been in charge of PKK
operations in Turkey.
Ankara has again appealed to Iraq to crack down on the PKK presence. The
PKK has been based in a mountainous region under the authority of the
autonomous Kurdish government.
"We don't receive any kind of support from the local administration in
the northern part of Iraq," Turkish Deputy Chief of Staff Gen. Hasan Igsiz
said. "Our expectation from them is to accept that the terrorist
organization is a terrorist organization and eliminate the support provided
to it."
