Turkish incursion sends 10,000 troops into Iraq for 15 days
Wednesday, February 27, 2008 Free Headline Alerts
ANKARA — Turkey has launched its largest ground offensive in Iraq in more than a decade.
Turkey's military, which has maintained a brigade in northern Iraq since the late 1990s, sent a reported 10,000 troops into northern Iraq in an effort to destroy the Kurdish Workers Party. The troops, sent on Feb. 21, reached some 25 kilometers in Iraq and were backed by fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, artillery and armored vehicles, Middle East Newsline reported.
Officials said Turkey has informed Iraq and the United States of the invasion plans. They said the military operation was expected to last 15 days.
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."