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/ 30 October 2007

Turkey pounds Kurdish rebels, warns US over ties

The Turkish army pounded Kurdish rebels near the Iraqi border on Tuesday as Ankara warned that ties with Washington would suffer as long as the separatists enjoyed sanctuary in northern Iraq. Cobra helicopters fired missiles at rebel positions on the Cudi Mountains, which border Iraq, where fighting continued for a second day.

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/ 23 October 2007

Turkey eyes diplomatic end to Kurdish crisis

Turkey reassured Iraq on Tuesday that it wants a diplomatic solution to the problem of Kurdish rebel rear-bases but rejected a conditional ceasefire offer made by the guerrillas. ”Politics, dialogue, diplomacy, culture and economy are the measures to deal with this crisis,” Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan told a news conference in Baghdad.

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/ 22 October 2007

Kurdish rebels offer conditional truce

Iraqi Kurdish rebels said on Monday they were ready to lay down their arms if Turkey stopped targeting the rebels and abandoned plans for an incursion into Iraq, according to a rebel website. ”We are ready for a ceasefire if the Turkish army stops attacking our positions, drops plans for an incursion and resorts to peace,” said a statement.

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/ 22 October 2007

Kurdish rebels to declare ceasefire, says Iraqi

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said on Monday that Kurdish rebels would announce a unilateral ceasefire later in the day amid Turkish threats to launch an incursion against them in northern Iraq. ”The PKK [Kurdistan Workers’ Party] has decided to declare a ceasefire from their side tonight,” Talabani told reporters at Sulaimaniyah Airport in Iraq’s northern Kurdish region.