Iraq denounces Turkish raid, demands instant withdrawal

Kurd parliament OKs measure allowing peshmerga to defend themselves

A Kurdish soldier stands near trucks crossing a checkpoint at the border between Iraqi and Turkey near Zakhu in southern Diyarbakir province yesterday. Iraq yesterday slammed Turkey’s ‘unacceptable’ cross-border offensive against Kurdish rebels.

BAGHDAD (AP) – The Iraqi government yesterday denounced the Turkish incursion and demanded an immediate withdrawal of Turkish troops from northern Iraq.

Spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the military action was a violation of Iraqi sovereignty, and called on the Turkish government to engage the Iraqis in dialogue instead.

“The Iraqi cabinet has denounced the Turkish army’s incursion,” al-Dabbagh said in a televised statement after the government met to discuss the issue.

“The cabinet calls on Turkey to withdraw its troops immediately and stop the military intervention.” Al-Dabbagh has been critical of the incursion, but his statement yesterday represented the first time the Iraqi government has demanded Turkey’s withdrawal.

He warned that tensions could escalate if Kurdish military forces, known as peshmerga, were drawn into the fight. “We want good relations with Turkey and Turkey should understand that the situation is dangerous and could be made worse by any military mistake that could prompt clashes between the peshmerga and Turkish troops,” al-Dabbagh said. A Turkish delegation will visit Baghdad today to meet with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, both Kurds, as well as other top Iraqi officials, al-Dabbagh said. The Kurdish parliament met yesterday in a special session and unanimously approved a measure authorizing the peshmerga to defend themselves and the Kurdish region if they were attacked by Turkish troops.

US State Department spokesman Tom Casey told reporters yesterday that all sides recognize that the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) represents a threat.

“The way to deal with that threat is through cooperation among the parties. Certainly, we want to see any military steps that are taken be done in a fashion that is coordinated” and doesn’t hurt civilians, he said.