Turkey Attacks Kurds; US Calls For Halt
CUKURCA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish troops continue to attack Kurdish rebels across the border in northern Iraq.
Wednesday, Turkish fighter jets, helicopters and hundreds of commandos streamed across the border in an effort to root out Kurdish insurgents.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is in Turkey, where he says he will tell officials that the six-day assault should last no longer than a week or two.
In Baghdad, the Turkish envoy says the incursion is “clear and limited,” and that no timetable will be set until what he calls terrorist bases are eliminated.
Gates says Turkey must be “mindful of Iraqi sovereignty.”
Kurds are the majority in Turkey’s southeast and neighboring northern Iraq. Kurdish rebels are fighting for autonomy for southeastern Turkey and have carried out attacks from northern Iraq.
