Thousands of Turkish Troops invade Iraq
Pastor Dale Morgan
Jun 6, 1:44 PM EDT
*Thousands of Turkish Troops Invade Iraq*
By SELCAN HACAOGLU
Associated Press Writer
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- Several thousand Turkish troops crossed into
northern Iraq early Wednesday to chase Kurdish guerrillas who attack
Turkey from bases there, two Turkish security officials said. Turkey's
foreign minister denied its troops had entered Iraq.
Two senior security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity
because they were not authorized to talk to the media, characterized the
action as a "hot pursuit" raid that was limited in scope. They told The
Associated Press it did not constitute the kind of large incursion that
Turkish leaders have been discussing in recent weeks as Turkish troops
built up their force along the border.
One official said the troops went less than two miles inside Iraq and
were still there in late afternoon. "It is a hot pursuit, not an
incursion," one official said.
Another official said by telephone it was "not a major offensive and the
number of troops is not in the tens of thousands." He also said the
Turkish troops went into a remote, mountainous area.
The officials are based in southeast Turkey, where the military has been
battling separatist Kurdish rebels since they took up arms in 1984.
The officials stood by their statement despite denials from Turkish and
Iraqi officials.
Turkey's private NTV television quoted Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul as
saying reports of a cross-border operation were false.
"There is no such thing, no entry to another country. If such a thing
happens, then we would announce it," Gul said. "We are in a war with
terror, we will do whatever is necessary to fight terrorism."
Several military officials at the Pentagon said they have seen nothing
Wednesday that would confirm the reports of Turkish troops crossing the
border into Iraq.
One military official said that small numbers of Turkish forces
periodically move in and out of Iraq doing counterinsurgency operations,
but not thousands at one time. The officials requested anonymity because
of the sensitivity of the information.
While the U.S. has about 16,500 troops in northern Iraq, most of them
are not right along the border. Many of those are training teams working
with the Iraqi border patrols.
The White House said there has been "no new activity" in northern Iraq
to justify the press reports. Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the White
House's National Security Council, said that U.S. officials in the
region have confirmed that the activity is a continuation of Turkey's
years-long campaign against the Kurdish PKK guerrillas of Kurdistan
Workers' Party.
"The Turkish government reports no new incursions into northern Iraq,"
Johndroe said. "U.S. officials on the ground confirm no new activity."
Johndroe said Washington remains "concerned about the PKK and the use of
Iraq as a safe haven."
Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a military spokesman in Baghdad, said he
could not confirm any Turkish troops were in Iraq but "we are looking
into it and obviously we are very concerned."
The last major Turkish incursion into northern Iraq was in 1997, when
about 50,000 troops were sent to the region.
The officials did not say where the Turkish force was operating in
northern Iraq, nor did they say how long they would be there. Both
officials are involved in anti-rebel operations, though they did not
disclose whether they participated in the planning of the operation on
Wednesday.
The officials said any confrontation with Iraqi Kurdish groups, who have
warned against a Turkish incursion, could trigger a larger cross-border
operation. The Turkish military has asked the government in Ankara to
approve such an incursion, but the government has not given formal approval.
An official at military headquarters in Ankara declined to confirm or
deny the report that Turkish troops had entered Iraq.
Turkish authorities rarely acknowledge such military operations, which
were more frequent before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
The Turkish military said rebels across the border in Iraq opened fire
Wednesday on a Turkish military outpost in the province of Hakkari,
which borders both Iraq and Iran. It said there were no casualties.
Turkey has been building up its military forces on the Iraqi border
recently, amid debate among political and military leaders about whether
to attack separatist rebels of the PKK. The rebels stage raids in
southeast Turkey after crossing over from hideouts in Iraq.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said the government has not seen
any major operations along the border.
"There has been intermittent shelling, for instance, attacks, certain
violations, minor violations on the border which we have documented and
reported back to the Turkish side, but honestly we haven't seen any
major operations along the border," Zebari told The Associated Press in
a telephone interview.
"We are aware of this Turkish troops buildup on the border and the Iraqi
government position has been that we will not accept or tolerate any
military incursion into Iraqi territories," he said.
During major incursions in the 1990s, fighting occurred on a front
stretching more than 100 miles, mostly in rugged terrain where
communications were difficult and the Turkish Kurds were already
entrenched in the mountains.
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Associated Press writers Jennifer Loven in Rostock, Germany, and Lolita
C. Baldor in Washington contributed to this report.