More than 1,000 Turkish commandos moved into northern Iraq in armored vehicles, a military official said, a reminder to Iraqi Kurds of the power of their northern neighbor and to Washington that Turkey's interests cannot be ignored.
The military move came on Friday, the same day that US Secretary of State Colin Powell said, "We don't see any need for any Turkish incursions into northern Iraq."
Powell spoke after Turkey delayed opening its airspace to US warplanes for strikes against Iraq, insisting the US agree to its demands to move troops into northern Iraq.
Turkey later dropped the demand and allowed the overflights but also began beefing up its border forces.
Turkey sent 1,000 troops on M-113 armored personnel carriers into northern Iraq from near the town of Cukurca, where the borders of Turkey, Iraq and Iran converge, a military official said, speaking on traditional condition of anonymity.
The unit reinforces several thousand Turkish troops already in Iraq to fight Turkish Kurdish rebels who have bases in the area.
Some of the existing Turkish troops in northern Iraq were repositioned Friday to strategic hilltops, the military official said.
Thousands of Turkish troops are also camping 7km away from the Iraqi border, near the town of Silopi.
Scores of Turkish tanks, artillery and armored personnel carriers are positioned near Silopi. The entire border area has been declared a military zone and is off limits to journalists.
Some 5,000 Turkish troops were on their way to the border area, military officials said.
Turkey fears the US-led war could lead Iraq to fragment, with northern Kurds declaring their independence. That could encourage Turkey's Kurdish rebels who battled the army for 15 years, leaving 37,000 people dead.
"Turkish soldiers will go in," Prime Minister Abdullah Gul told reporters. He said Turkey's objectives were "Iraq's territorial integrity" and containing within Iraq any refugee flow caused by the war.
"Turkey has no designs whatsoever on Iraq's territory," he said.
Turkey has maintained several thousand soldiers backed by a few dozen tanks in northern Iraq to chase Turkish Kurdish guerrillas for years.
Turkey says Turkish Kurdish rebels have benefited from the power vacuum in northern Iraq following the 1991 Gulf War to stage hit-and-run attacks in Turkey from northern Iraq.
"This time, we will not allow such a [power] vacuum," Gul said.
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