Turkish troops kill 15 Kurdish rebels

Turkish troops killed 15 Kurdish guerrillas in fighting Sunday, far from the increasingly tense Iraq border region. Some of the separatists have sought refuge in the area, a news report said. Turkey's prime minister called for unity between Turks and Kurds against the rebels. Turkish troops kill 15 Kurdish rebels The clash occurred in the mainly Kurdish province of Tunceli, which is not near the border with Iraq where most of the recent clashes have occurred. The governor's office for Tunceli confirmed that there was fighting in the province but would not confirm casualty figures. The government-run Anatolia news agency said that the fighting began Sunday morning and that the Turkish troops were backed by helicopter gunships. Security forces shut down a major highway leading to Pulumur, it said. It did not mention casualties. Tunceli is some 550 kilometers, or 340 miles, northeast of the province of Sirnak and 645 kilometers northeast of Hakkari, the province where most of the recent fighting with the rebels has taken place. Sirnak and Hakkari border Iraq. "As long as we are firmly bound together, the treacherous separatist terrorist attacks will never reach their goal," Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a message before the Oct. 29 celebrations marking the 84th anniversary of the Turkish republic. "I want to declare this one more time: The struggle we lead against the separatist terrorism that aims to destroy our unity and our constitutional order will continue with belief and determination." Meanwhile, in Cizre, Turkey, the government said Sunday that a military solution was still on the table to tackle Kurdish separatists in northern Iraq, while Washington urged dialogue to avert an incursion it feared would destabilize the region. Turkish-Iraqi talks aimed at preventing a cross-border operation into northern Iraq collapsed Friday after Ankara rejected Iraqi proposals as insufficient. Turkey has massed up to 100,000 troops, backed by fighter planes, helicopter gunships and tanks, on the border for a possible offensive against about 3,000 rebels using Iraq as a base from which to carry out attacks in Turkey. "For example, we can use or continue to use diplomatic means, or resort to military means. All of these are on the table, so to speak," Turkey's foreign minister, Ali Babacan, said in translated comments on Iran's Press TV television channel. Ankara has demanded that Iraq hand over all northern Iraq-based members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which is blamed for more than 30,000 deaths since the start of its separatist campaign in southeast Turkey in 1984.

Turkish troops kill 15 Kurdish rebels

The clash occurred in the mainly Kurdish province of Tunceli, which is not near the border with Iraq where most of the recent clashes have occurred. The governor's office for Tunceli confirmed that there was fighting in the province but would not confirm casualty figures.

The government-run Anatolia news agency said that the fighting began Sunday morning and that the Turkish troops were backed by helicopter gunships. Security forces shut down a major highway leading to Pulumur, it said. It did not mention casualties.

Tunceli is some 550 kilometers, or 340 miles, northeast of the province of Sirnak and 645 kilometers northeast of Hakkari, the province where most of the recent fighting with the rebels has taken place. Sirnak and Hakkari border Iraq.

"As long as we are firmly bound together, the treacherous separatist terrorist attacks will never reach their goal," Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a message before the Oct. 29 celebrations marking the 84th anniversary of the Turkish republic.

"I want to declare this one more time: The struggle we lead against the separatist terrorism that aims to destroy our unity and our constitutional order will continue with belief and determination."

Meanwhile, in Cizre, Turkey, the government said Sunday that a military solution was still on the table to tackle Kurdish separatists in northern Iraq, while Washington urged dialogue to avert an incursion it feared would destabilize the region.

Turkish-Iraqi talks aimed at preventing a cross-border operation into northern Iraq collapsed Friday after Ankara rejected Iraqi proposals as insufficient.

Turkey has massed up to 100,000 troops, backed by fighter planes, helicopter gunships and tanks, on the border for a possible offensive against about 3,000 rebels using Iraq as a base from which to carry out attacks in Turkey.

"For example, we can use or continue to use diplomatic means, or resort to military means. All of these are on the table, so to speak," Turkey's foreign minister, Ali Babacan, said in translated comments on Iran's Press TV television channel.

Ankara has demanded that Iraq hand over all northern Iraq-based members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which is blamed for more than 30,000 deaths since the start of its separatist campaign in southeast Turkey in 1984.