Turkey massing troops on Iraq border
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
IRAQ'S Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari warned yesterday that Turkey had massed 140,000 troops on its northern border and called on Ankara to give its neighbour more time to deal with Kurdish rebels.
Zebari urged Turkey to help take part in three-way talks with Iraq and the United States to defuse the crisis, which has seen Turkish military commanders threaten military action to deal with guerrilla bases inside Iraq.
"Relations with Turkey are still good, but there's a huge buildup, in our view. Our intelligence assessment is that there's 140,000 troops and they've been there for quite some time," Zebari told reporters in Baghdad.
Turkish leaders complain that separatist rebels from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) launch operations across the northern Iraqi border into Turkey and the Turkish armed forces say they are ready to strike back.
Baghdad and the US have urged Ankara to show caution, and not create another military crisis in an Iraq already wracked with civil conflict.
"We are trying to defuse this tension," said Zebari. Zebari repeated that Iraq would see any Turkish military operation on its soil as an unwelcome violation of sovereignty, and insisted that it was not opposed to taking action against the PKK at the proper time.
"It's the timing that is the problem," he said, noting that Iraq's armed forces are fighting terrorism on the streets of Baghdad and had no manpower spare for a campaign against Kurdish rebels in the northern mountains.
Zebari urged Turkey to send envoys to Baghdad to take part in a tripartite US, Iraqi and Turkish security talks "as soon as possible".
AFP
Zebari urged Turkey to help take part in three-way talks with Iraq and the United States to defuse the crisis, which has seen Turkish military commanders threaten military action to deal with guerrilla bases inside Iraq.
"Relations with Turkey are still good, but there's a huge buildup, in our view. Our intelligence assessment is that there's 140,000 troops and they've been there for quite some time," Zebari told reporters in Baghdad.
Turkish leaders complain that separatist rebels from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) launch operations across the northern Iraqi border into Turkey and the Turkish armed forces say they are ready to strike back.
Baghdad and the US have urged Ankara to show caution, and not create another military crisis in an Iraq already wracked with civil conflict.
"We are trying to defuse this tension," said Zebari. Zebari repeated that Iraq would see any Turkish military operation on its soil as an unwelcome violation of sovereignty, and insisted that it was not opposed to taking action against the PKK at the proper time.
"It's the timing that is the problem," he said, noting that Iraq's armed forces are fighting terrorism on the streets of Baghdad and had no manpower spare for a campaign against Kurdish rebels in the northern mountains.
Zebari urged Turkey to send envoys to Baghdad to take part in a tripartite US, Iraqi and Turkish security talks "as soon as possible".
AFP
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