12 Turkish soldiers killed in Kurdish attack

At least 12 Turkish soldiers were killed in an ambush by Kurdish militants on Sunday.

Izvor: International Herald Tribune

Sunday, 21.10.2007.

19:07

Default images

At least 12 Turkish soldiers were killed in an ambush by Kurdish militants on Sunday. The attack sharply increased the pressure on Turkey's government to send troops into northern Iraq. 12 Turkish soldiers killed in Kurdish attack A group of Kurdish fighters moved into Turkey from northern Iraq, the Turkish military said, and attacked Turkish soldiers based near the town of Hakkari, about 25 miles from the border, in three different locations, killing 12 and injuring another 16. Turkish soldiers then struck back, firing from helicopters and from the ground, killing at least 23 militants, according to the military, which provided its account in a statement. In a statement on a Kurdish Web site, the militants said they captured eight Turkish soldiers, but the claim could not be substantiated. The attack came just four days after the Turkish Parliament voted to give the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan full authority to send troops into northern Iraq to strike at Kurdish militants who hide there. At the time, Turkish officials emphasized that they would not immediately apply the authority, and security experts said the resolution would be used mainly as political leverage to press the United States and its Iraqi Kurdish allies to act against the Kurdish militants, the Kurdistan Workers Party, known by its initials, the PKK. But the attack Sunday was one of the worst in recent memory, and the government, which has been skeptical of an offensive in the past, will be under intense pressure to act. "With this incident, the arrow left the bow, and no room is left for the government to hesitate, postpone or fail to launch a cross border operation," said Armagan Kuloglu, a retired Turkish major general, in a telephone interview. "If the government resists ordering a military operation, such a step would endanger its existence and credibility." Erdogan called an emergency security meeting among Turkey's top political and military officials for 8 p.m. "Our anger is great,' Erdogan said on national television. In a veiled reference to the United States, he said: "I especially want you to know that we do not have any thoughts as to what one side or another would have to say about this."

12 Turkish soldiers killed in Kurdish attack

A group of Kurdish fighters moved into Turkey from northern Iraq, the Turkish military said, and attacked Turkish soldiers based near the town of Hakkari, about 25 miles from the border, in three different locations, killing 12 and injuring another 16.

Turkish soldiers then struck back, firing from helicopters and from the ground, killing at least 23 militants, according to the military, which provided its account in a statement.

In a statement on a Kurdish Web site, the militants said they captured eight Turkish soldiers, but the claim could not be substantiated.

The attack came just four days after the Turkish Parliament voted to give the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan full authority to send troops into northern Iraq to strike at Kurdish militants who hide there.

At the time, Turkish officials emphasized that they would not immediately apply the authority, and security experts said the resolution would be used mainly as political leverage to press the United States and its Iraqi Kurdish allies to act against the Kurdish militants, the Kurdistan Workers Party, known by its initials, the PKK.

But the attack Sunday was one of the worst in recent memory, and the government, which has been skeptical of an offensive in the past, will be under intense pressure to act.

"With this incident, the arrow left the bow, and no room is left for the government to hesitate, postpone or fail to launch a cross border operation," said Armagan Kuloglu, a retired Turkish major general, in a telephone interview.

"If the government resists ordering a military operation, such a step would endanger its existence and credibility."

Erdogan called an emergency security meeting among Turkey's top political and military officials for 8 p.m.

"Our anger is great,' Erdogan said on national television.

In a veiled reference to the United States, he said: "I especially want you to know that we do not have any thoughts as to what one side or another would have to say about this."

Komentari 0

0 Komentari

Možda vas zanima

Podeli: