Turkey has calledon Iraq to wage total war against Kurdish militants,
ITAR-TASS reports, citing the head of the Turkish General Staff.
General Ilker Bashbug told the Milliyet newspaper that Ankara had
informed the US and Iraqi President Masud Barzani about various
proposals that would lead to the neutralization of threat from the
PKK. Other versions involve joint operations by Turkey, USA and Iraq
against the militants or a large operation involving only the Turkish
army in North Iraq, to be coordinated by local services and the US
military.
Ankara has been criticizing the authorities of Iraq for their
inactivity over the PKK. Turkey demands the destruction of the party's
strongholds and camps and the capture of the party's functionaries.
The general made the declaration due to rising activity of the Kurdish
militants, who have organized large-scale attacks against the security
services. Eleven people were killed in an attack on a military post on
Tuesday.
At the same time the newspaper reports that the PKK has seen the
deaths of 227 members in the last 45 days in land and air raids by the
armed forces.
