WORLD> Middle East
Turkish officer accuses Iraqi Kurds of aiding PKK rebels
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-10-06 10:04

ANKARA-- A senior official of the Turkish military on Sunday criticized the Iraqi Kurds for aiding the outlawed Kurdish Worker's Party (PKK) militants against Ankara.


A relative of one of the Turkish soldiers killed in an attack by Kurdish separatists cries during his funeral in Kocaeli, Turkey, October 5, 2008. 15 soldiers from the Turkish security forces were killed on October 3 in a terrorist attack staged by the banned Kurdish Worker's Party (PKK) in the southeastern province of Hakkari. [Xinhua] 

General Staff deputy chief Gen. Hasan Igsiz made the criticism in a speech at the military headquarters in Ankara, following a PKK Friday attack that killed some 15 Turkish soldiers in southeastern province of Hakkarion from northern Iraq.

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In the speech, Igsiz criticized the Iraqi Kurds for allowing PKK militants to use their hospitals and roads and urged the regional administration in northern Iraq not to support PKK, listed as a terrorist group by the United States and Turkey.


Turkish people attend the funerals of the Turkish soldiers killed in an attack by Kurdish separatists in Kocaeli, Turkey, October 5, 2008. 15 soldiers from the Turkish security forces were killed on October 3 in a terrorist attack staged by the banned Kurdish Worker's Party (PKK) in the southeastern province of Hakkari. [Xinhua]

Earlier on Saturday, the Turkish military said that 15 of its soldiers were killed when the PKK attacked Aktutun Gendarmerie Border Unit in Semdinli town in Hakkarion province on Friday afternoon from northern Iraq.

Twenty-three PKK militants were also killed in the clashes between the PKK and Turkish security forces, the military added.


Turkish people attend the funerals of the Turkish soldiers killed in an attack by Kurdish separatists in Kocaeli, Turkey, October 5, 2008. 15 soldiers from the Turkish security forces were killed on October 3 in a terrorist attack staged by the banned Kurdish Worker's Party (PKK) in the southeastern province of Hakkari. [Xinhua] 

The PKK took up arms in 1984 with the aim of creating an ethnic homeland in southeast Turkey. Some 40,000 people have been killed in the over-two-decade conflict.

Turkey has conducted frequent air raids on suspected positions of the PKK in northern Iraq. In February, it also launched an eight-day ground incursion into Iraq.