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Kurdish Rebels Kill 12 In Ambush

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By VOLKAN SARISAKAL, The Associated Press

Published: October 22, 2007

SIRNAK, Turkey - Kurdish rebels ambushed a Turkish military convoy on Sunday less than three miles from the Iraqi border, killing 12 soldiers in the face of growing threats by Turkey to cross the rugged frontier and root out the guerrillas.

Turkey shelled the border region in response to the attack, and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani - himself a Kurd - ordered the rebels to lay down their arms or leave Iraq. Turkey dismissed his call, saying the time had come for action.

Despite the harsher rhetoric, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Sunday that it appears Turkey's military is not on the verge of invading Iraq's most stable region in pursuit of the rebels - an incursion strongly opposed by the United States and Iraq.

Gates said that in a meeting with Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul, he advised against a major cross-border incursion, despite the continuing provocations.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he told Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in a phone conversation Sunday night that Turkey expected 'speedy steps from U.S.' in cracking down on Kurdish rebels, and that Rice expressed sympathy and asked 'for a few days' from him.

Turkey's Parliament last week authorized the government to deploy troops across the border, and the military confirmed that soldiers were chasing the rebels and pounding 63 suspected positions with artillery. Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek would not say, however, whether some of those positions were on Iraqi soil.

The troops, backed by helicopter gunships, killed 32 rebels on Sunday, Cicek said.

The rebel group, Kurdistan Workers Party or PKK, claimed later that its guerrillas had also captured a 'number' of Turkish soldiers. Eight soldiers were missing, according to private NTV television.

The soldiers died when an estimated 200 guerrillas - the largest single group to attack a Turkish unit in years - reportedly attacked an infantry company near the village of Daglica, less than three miles from the border.

The attack occurred just after midnight during a military offensive against rebels in Hakkari province, where the borders of Turkey, Iraq and Iran meet. Hakkari is east of Sirnak province, another area of conflict between the PKK and the Turkish military.

Sunday's attack raised the death toll of soldiers killed in PKK attacks in the past two weeks to around 30.

The remarks by Talabani, the Iraqi president, were the strongest indication to date of his frustration with the rebels and his wish to distance himself, as well as Iraq's Kurds, from them.

'If they insist on the continuation of fighting, they should leave Kurdistan, Iraq, and not create problems here. And they should return to their countries and do there whatever they want,' Talabani said.

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