LOC23:00
20:00 GMT
(With photos)
ANKARA, April 14 (KUNA) -- Turkey's Chief of General Staff Gen. Ilker
Basbug said Tuesday he believes that the rebel Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)
could be eradicated through effective security coordination between his
country, Iraq and the United States.
Addressing the Turkish War Colleges Command, Basbug said the tripartite
military measures enacted in north Iraq recently would bear fruit soon.
He was apparently referring to the launching, three month ago, of a center
for intelligence coordination in Irbil, north Iraq, where 3,500 of PKK
separatists are believed to be based.
Basbug did not accuse Iraqi Kurds of harboring the PKK rebels and providing
them with safe havens which signals a clear shift in the Turkish stance
towards Iraqi Kurds.
Thanks to the growing coordination among the three countries, north Iraq is
no longer a safe haven for the PKK rebels, he affirmed.
The Turkish military was able to deal strong blows to the PKK bases in the
region over the last one and half years using its air force and ground force,
he pointed out.
Due to these attacks the PPK lost its ability to act as a major militant
group against Turkey, he said, noting that the attacks launched against Turkey
from north Iraq have declined sharply, Gen. Basbug underscored.
The military leader affirmed determination to pursue the campaign against
the PKK separatists deeming the victory in this conflict key to comprehensive
development in southern Turkey.
Since October 24, 2007 units of the Turkish army crossed the Iraqi border
in a special operation against PPK militants. Turkish military backed by
helicopters chased the militants, while F-16 Falcon fighters and artillery
dealt strikes at militant bases about 50 kilometers (30 miles) deep into Iraqi
territory.
In 1984 the separatist PKK waged a violent insurgency in southeast Turkey,
directed against both security forces and civilians, almost all of them Kurds,
whom the PKK accuses of cooperating with the Turkish State. According to
official estimates 26,532 PKK members, 5,185 security force members, and 5,209
civilians lost their lives in the conflict. (end)
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