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Return to Iraq possible: Ankara

Turkish army units return from northern Iraq in Cukurca, Hakkari Province, at the Turkish-Iraqi border on Friday. PHOTO: AP

Truckloads of Turkish troops, many of them weary and unshaven, returned from Iraq on Friday as Turkey ended a cross-border offensive against Kurdish rebels after eight days, meeting US demands for a quick campaign. Washington and Baghdad welcomed the move, but Turkish officials warned they would send forces back into Iraq if they deemed it necessary.

A key test of the effectiveness of Turkey's ground incursion could come in the weeks ahead with the arrival of spring, the traditional start of the fighting season of the rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

In the past, guerrillas have taken advantage of the melting snows and infiltrated Turkey from bases in Iraq, and any surge in PKK attacks could trigger another tough response from the Turkish military.

"It is very clear that an established group like the PKK will not be eliminated with one or two more cross-border operations. Turkey needs pinpoint operations against the group's leadership, like Israel's operations against Palestinian groups," said Sinan Ogan, head of the Turkish Center for International Relations and Strategic Analysis in Ankara.

However, the discrimination and poverty that triggered the Kurdish insurgency in Turkey in 1984 persist, although the government has taken steps in recent years to ease restrictions on Kurds as part of its bid to join the EU. The PKK's power has dwindled since its 1990s heyday and Europe and the US consider it a terrorist group, but it still enjoys support in the country's predominantly Kurdish southeast and some urban centers.

The PKK has tempered its demands over the years, initially calling for an independent state and later for autonomy in the southeast and cultural rights. The conflict has killed up to 40,000 people.

Turkey's first major incursion into Iraq in about a decade reflected the sensitive nature of its alliance with the US, which provided intelligence to the Turkish military but sought a short campaign to preserve the relative calm of the mostly Kurdish region of northern Iraq.

The troop withdrawal came a day after US President George W. Bush and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates told Turkish leaders that they should end the offensive as soon as possible.

"Any influence, either foreign or domestic, on this decision by the Turkish Armed Forces is out of the question," the Turkish military said in a statement. "Terrorist activities in Iraq's north will be observed in the future and no threat against Turkey from this region will be allowed," it said.

General Yasar Buyukanit, the military chief, said it was "pure coincidence" that the withdrawal was announced one day after Gates issued his appeal during a visit to Ankara, Dogan news agency reported.

"This decision was made because the operation had reached its targets," Buyukanit said. ``When the US defense secretary stepped into Turkey, the withdrawal had been partly realized."

CNN-Turk TV quoted Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as saying: "Everything has been realized according to the plan. No civilian has been harmed in the operation."
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