Iraq Promises Hard Line Against Rebel Attacks on Turkey

Iraq today affirmed its commitment to stop Kurdish rebels from attacking Turkey from its territory, as the Turkish parliament prepared to authorize cross-border raids.

The announcement followed a meeting of a government crisis committee chaired by Iraq's prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, set up to deal with tensions with Turkey.

The Turkish military has been pressing for an attack against fighters from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) based in northern Iraq. In recent weeks, the rebels have killed over a dozen Turkish soldiers, sparking public pressure for tough action.

Mr Maliki yesterday sent the Iraqi vice president, Tariq al-Hashemi, to Ankara for urgent talks to head off any major attack on northern Iraq, amid fears it would destabilize one of the country's few areas largely spared the sectarian strife that has plagued the rest of the country.

"The Iraqi government affirms its commitments to prevent the terrorist activities of the PKK against neighboring Turkey," Mr Maliki's office said in a statement.

Iraq restated its commitment to an anti-terrorism deal it signed with Turkey last month, in which both countries agreed to take all necessary measures, including financial and intelligence, against the PKK and other militant groups.

"The Iraqi government affirms its desire to establish the best relations with neighboring Turkey on the basis of joint interests and ... non-intervention in internal affairs," it said.

The US and the EU have been putting heavy pressure on Turkey to not launch an attack. The crisis has been complicated by Turkish frustration with the US over moves in Congress to declare as genocide the 1915 killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians by Turks.

The prospect of military action has also unnerved oil traders, pushing up oil prices to record highs. But Turkey has long complained at the lack of US or Iraqi action against the estimated 3,000 PKK guerrillas in northern Iraq.

Turkey's parliament is expected to approve by a large majority a motion that would allow its military to conduct operations in northern Iraq and surrounding areas for a one-year period.

The timing and scale will be set by the government, although the prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, yesterday said parliamentary approval did not necessarily mean that an attack was imminent.

While public opinion favors tough action, some two dozen military campaigns into Iraq since the 1980s failed to wipe out the PKK. Besides straining ties with the EU and the US, military action could also hurt Turkey's economy, which has recovered strongly from an economic crisis in 2001.