.Turkey, Iran launch coordinated attacks on Kurds
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) - Turkey and Iran have been carrying out coordinated strikes on Kurdish rebels based in northern Iraq, a top Turkish general said Thursday in the first military confirmation of Iranian-Turkish cooperation in the fight against separatists there.
Gen. Ilker Basbug, Turkey's land forces commander, said the two countries have been sharing intelligence and planned more coordinated attacks in the future against the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, and PEJAK, the group's Iranian wing.
"We are sharing intelligence with Iran, we are talking, we are coordinating," CNN-Turk television quoted Basbug as telling reporters on the sidelines of a security conference in Istanbul.
"When they start an operation, we do, too," the general said. "They carry out an operation from the Iranian side of the border, we from the Turkish side."
The report did not give any details on the strikes or the targets. The general said no coordinated action had taken place in the past few months.
"We haven't done it in the past one or two months, but we can do it again," he said.
The PKK, which has bases in northern Iraq, has been fighting for self-rule in southeastern Turkey since 1984. Tens of thousands of people have died in the conflict. The main rebel camp is on Mount Qandil, which sits on the Iraqi-Iranian border.
In recent months, the Turkish military has launched several airstrikes on Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq. In February, it staged an eight-day, ground offensive.
Iran also has shelled northern Iraq. Tehran says rebels from PEJAK, the Party for Free Life in Kurdistan, a group fighting for Kurdish rights in Iran, also have bases on Mount Qandil.
In northern Iraq, PKK spokesman Ahmad Danas told The Associated Press that the group knew about the contacts between Turkey and Iran. But he said the strikes failed to dislodge the rebels.
"The sites bombed in the Mount Qandil area and other sites inside Iraqi territory have no impact on us because we had already left those sites," he said. "Militants have movable sites in rocky mountains that cannot be targeted."
The United States has labeled the PKK a terrorist organization and supports Turkey's fight against the group by providing intelligence on the rebels. But it also has urged restraint on Turkey, fearing the fight could undermine efforts to calm Iraq.
In Washington, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said after meeting with the Turkish foreign minister Thursday that the U.S., Turkey and Iraq are "on the same page about the desire to see the PKK not capable of carrying out attacks against Turkey."
"The PKK is an enemy of Iraq; it's an enemy of the United States; it's an enemy of Turkey; it's an enemy of the region," Rice said.
MyWay
Gen. Ilker Basbug, Turkey's land forces commander, said the two countries have been sharing intelligence and planned more coordinated attacks in the future against the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, and PEJAK, the group's Iranian wing.
"We are sharing intelligence with Iran, we are talking, we are coordinating," CNN-Turk television quoted Basbug as telling reporters on the sidelines of a security conference in Istanbul.
"When they start an operation, we do, too," the general said. "They carry out an operation from the Iranian side of the border, we from the Turkish side."
The report did not give any details on the strikes or the targets. The general said no coordinated action had taken place in the past few months.
"We haven't done it in the past one or two months, but we can do it again," he said.
The PKK, which has bases in northern Iraq, has been fighting for self-rule in southeastern Turkey since 1984. Tens of thousands of people have died in the conflict. The main rebel camp is on Mount Qandil, which sits on the Iraqi-Iranian border.
In recent months, the Turkish military has launched several airstrikes on Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq. In February, it staged an eight-day, ground offensive.
Iran also has shelled northern Iraq. Tehran says rebels from PEJAK, the Party for Free Life in Kurdistan, a group fighting for Kurdish rights in Iran, also have bases on Mount Qandil.
In northern Iraq, PKK spokesman Ahmad Danas told The Associated Press that the group knew about the contacts between Turkey and Iran. But he said the strikes failed to dislodge the rebels.
"The sites bombed in the Mount Qandil area and other sites inside Iraqi territory have no impact on us because we had already left those sites," he said. "Militants have movable sites in rocky mountains that cannot be targeted."
The United States has labeled the PKK a terrorist organization and supports Turkey's fight against the group by providing intelligence on the rebels. But it also has urged restraint on Turkey, fearing the fight could undermine efforts to calm Iraq.
In Washington, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said after meeting with the Turkish foreign minister Thursday that the U.S., Turkey and Iraq are "on the same page about the desire to see the PKK not capable of carrying out attacks against Turkey."
"The PKK is an enemy of Iraq; it's an enemy of the United States; it's an enemy of Turkey; it's an enemy of the region," Rice said.
MyWay
posted by madtom at 8:50 PM
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