Turkey Starts Ground and Air Operations in Northern Iraq

The General Staff has announced that in order to destroy the infrastructure of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) ground operations were started in Northern Iraq on 21 February (Thursday).

According to the official statement, there was a bombardment of the area with artillery and planes from 10 am to 6 pm.

The statement further said that the soldiers would “return to Turkey as soon as they had reached the planned targets.”

"Contributing to Iraq's stability"... 

“The operation being carried out is aiming at preventing the use of the area as a permanent and safe base for terrorists, as well as contributing to Iraq’s stability and domestic peace.”

Furthermore, journalists were warned not to enter the area in order not to endanger their lives or the safety of the operations.

US support for "fight against terrorism" 

According to the Reuters news agency, Commodore Gregory Smith, spokesperson for the US army, said that Turkey had promised “to do everything so that no civilians would die and Iraq’s infrastructure would not be damaged.”

He added that it was “understood” that the operations would be of a limited duration, and reiterated US support for Turkey’s “right to defend itself against PKK terrorist activities.”

Iraq calls on Turkey to respect its borders 

The Sulaimania-based Pukmedia has reported that Iraq’s Prime Minister Nuri El Maliki called Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, saying that although thye considered the PKK a threat to the common border, Iraq wanted its borders to be respected and a non-military solution to be found.
The same news website stated that as a result of Turkey’s fighter plane attacks, four bridges in Amedi, in the Duhok area, were destroyed.

According to Pukmedia, Turkish President Abdullah Gül has called his Iraqi counterpart Celal Talabani to reassure him that Turkey sees the Iraqi Kurds as relatives and brothers. Expressing Turkey’s desire to strengthen economic and cultural relations with the Northern Iraqi Kurdistan region, Gül also invited Talabani to visit Turkey. (TK/NZ/AG)