April 3, 2000
Turks Bomb Kurd Bases in Iraq
Filed at 10:04 a.m. EDT
By The Associated Press
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- Turkish warplanes struck Kurdish
rebel
bases in northern Iraq on Monday, as more than 1,000
troops
penetrated further into the region in a new campaign
to hunt down the
guerrillas, a military official said.
F-16 jets flew over the southeastern Turkish city
of Diyarbakir, taking off
from a nearby base for the bombing campaign over northern
Iraq, local
reporters said.
A military official, speaking on condition of anonymity,
said the troops
penetrated some six miles into Iraq, but there were
no serious clashes
with the guerrillas so far. Cobra helicopter gunships
were reported
reinforcing the troops and armored units.
Turkey regularly crosses into northern Iraq to chase
rebels of the
Kurdistan Workers Party, which has been fighting for
autonomy within
Turkey for 15 years.
The military official said the operation was launched
last week after
intelligence sources pinpointed rebel camps along the
rugged
Iraqi-Turkish border.
Iraq's northern regions are outside Baghdad's control,
governed by two
rival Iraqi Kurdish factions. One of the factions has
been fighting the
PKK alongside the Turkish army.
Kurdish rebels retreated into bases in northern Iraq
before the winter
after announcing a cease-fire and a withdrawal from
Turkey. They later
announced an end to armed struggle but the unilateral
rebel cease-fire has
been ignored by Turkey, which rules out any concessions
to the rebels.
The latest incursion into Iraq came as European pressure
increased on
Turkey to find a peaceful settlement to the Kurdish
conflict, which has
claimed the lives of 37,000 people since 1984.