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Gates urges quick end to Turkey's Iraq push

Turkey must limit its military operations against Kurdish guerrillas in northern Iraq to days or a couple of weeks rather than months, US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said yesterday.

Gates, who is due to meet Turkish officials in Ankara today, said Turkey should not rely on military action alone in dealing with guerrillas in the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), but also find ways to improve economic and social conditions.

"It's very important that the Turks make this operation as short as possible and then leave, and to be mindful of Iraqi sovereignty," Gates said in New Delhi yesterday before leaving for Ankara.

"I measure quick in terms of days, a week or two, something like that. Not months," he said.

"Military activity alone will not solve this terrorist problem for Turkey," Gates said.

"There certainly is a place for security operations but these also need to be accompanied by economic and political initiatives and to deal with some of the issues that provide a favorable local environment where the PKK can operate."

It was the first time that Gates put any time limit on the incursion, which Turkey launched in northern Iraq last Thursday.

His comments came one day after Iraq condemned the incursion and demanded an immediate end to what it called a violation of its sovereignty.

A Turkish delegation, including Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's top foreign policy adviser Ahmet Davutoglu, left for Baghdad yesterday to hold talks, the foreign ministry said.

The delegation was expected to meet with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, both Kurds, as well as other top Iraqi officials.

Ankara has said it was forced to launch the incursion last Thursday after Iraqi and US authorities failed to stop an estimated 3,000 PKK members from using northern Iraq as a base to stageattacks against soldiers and civilians in Turkey.

Meanwhile, more than 40 military trucks ferried Turkish troops toward the Iraqi border yesterday. F-16 warplanes and helicopters were also seen flying over the town of Cukurca toward Iraq.

In other Iraq news, a roadside bomb struck a bus carrying travelers to a Shiite religious commemoration yesterday morning, killing one traveler and wounding two others, police said.

The blast in eastern Baghdad comes days after a flurry of attacks on pilgrims heading to Karbala. With the latest fatality, 64 people have now been killed in assaults targeting pilgrims.
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