The Turkish military said at least 35 PKK fighters and two Turkish
soldiers were killed in action on Saturday. At least seven soldiers and 80
PKK fighters have been killed since the ground invasion began.
Turkey has used mainly U.S.-origin platforms for its offensive in Iraq.
They included F-16 multi-role fighters as well as S-70 and AH-1W Cobra
attack helicopters.
"The target, purpose, size and parameters of this operation are
limited," Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan said. "Our armed forces will
come back in the shortest time possible as soon as they achieve their
objectives."
So far, Ankara was said to have limited its strikes to PKK weapons
caches and bunkers. The military has reported air strikes on suspected PKK
sites in the Kandil mountains near the Iranian and Turkish borders.
"The operation carried out is believed to prevent the region from being
used by terrorists as a permanent and safe base, and to contribute to
stability and domestic peace in Iraq," the General Staff said.
Turkey began ground incursions and air strikes on PKK targets in
northern Iraq in October 2007. But until the latest operation, no more than
several hundred Turkish troops were said to have entered Iraq.
The military said the latest ground incursion followed an eight-hour
artillery bombardment of PKK targets on Feb. 21. The invasion came after a
four-hour meeting of the National Security Council, chaired by Erdogan and
which decides on Turkish strategy.
Turkish analysts said the military incursion was meant to prevent an
expected PKK offensive in the spring. But they said PKK bases in northern
Iraq were largely empty, with most fighters having fled either south or to
neighboring Iran and Syria.
The United States has been providing intelligence on PKK facilities and
movements in northern Iraq. But Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman
declined to say whether Washington supplied the intelligence that enabled
the Turkish incursion. Defense Secretary Robert Gates was scheduled to
arrive in Ankara on Feb. 27.
"Turkey is a NATO ally," Whitman said. "We have a long-standing,
intelligence-sharing relationship with Turkey. It was intensified recently
with respect to the PKK terrorist group."
