source: http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/arti ... wsid=90159
Monday, December 3, 2007
Turkey has right to defend itself against terrorists, Pentagon says
ÜM?T ENG?NSOY
WASHINGTON - Turkish Daily News
United States officials have implied that Washington may have provided the Turkish army with actionable intelligence for a weekend operation into northern Iraq during which the Turkish military said it inflicted heavy casualties on Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorists, without formal confirmation.
The Turkish General Staff announced Saturday that the military earlier in the day had fired against a group of 50-60 PKK terrorists inside Iraqi territory, inflicting significant losses.
In Washington U.S. President George W. Bush's National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said in a statement: "We have been working hard since Nov. 5 to follow up the conversation between President Bush and Prime Minister Erdo?an to increase cooperation among Turkey, Iraq and the U.S. to counter the PKK terrorist threat."
At the Bush-Erdo?an meeting the U.S. president pledged that the U.S. military would provide its Turkish counterparts with actionable intelligence to hit specific, and limited, PKK targets inside Iraqi territory – a description in line the General Staff's announcement Saturday.
Defense analysts here said that the intelligence on the PKK leading to Saturday's military attack is a likely outcome of the Bush-Erdo?an deal.
But neither the U.S. nor Turkey officially confirmed U.S. intelligence was behind the Turkish strike.
"If there was cooperation on this, and I believe there was, then it is only normal to keep the details secret from the public," said one defense analyst here.
Pentagon's backing:
In a related development, the Pentagon said that Turkey had the right to defend itself against the PKK terrorist threat.
"I can tell you that Turkey has a right to defend itself against terrorists and any decision to use military action is the decision of the Turkish government," Lieutenant Colonel Almarah Belk, a Pentagon spokesman, told the Turkish Daily News.
"The U.S. has been working closely with the Turkish and Iraqi governments to seek ways to find a long-term solution to the PKK issue and this will continue," Belk said.
The northern Iraq-based PKK stepped up the scope and tempo of its attacks on Turkish targets in September and October, prompting the Turkish Parliament to authorize the government to order a military incursion into neighboring Iraq.
The Turkish-U.S. deal at the Bush-Erdo?an meeting came after the Turkish government said it might use this authority to send the army to northern Iraq to fight the PKK there. Opposing a unilateral Turkish incursion, Washington agreed to boost intelligence sharing.
Bush and Erdo?an have tasked top generals from their sides to coordinate their efforts this anti-PKK operation. Turkish and U.S. commanders have met in Ankara in recent weeks to discuss details.
