US tells Turkey to end Iraq incursion in a 'week or two'
ANKARA (AFP) — Turkey came under renewed US pressure Wednesday to wrap up its offensive against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq, with Washington insisting the operation should not last more than "a week or two".
As the cross-border military incursion entered its sixth full day, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates made it clear that US support was far from open-ended.
Speaking to reporters in New Delhi before flying to Ankara, Gates said the Turkish offensive had to end quickly.
"I measure quick in terms of days, or a week or two, something like that. Not months," he said.
His remarks came after Turkish warplanes bombed rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) bases in several areas in northern Iraq overnight, local security officials said.
The United States, which lists the PKK as a terrorist organisation, has been supplying the Turkish army with intelligence on PKK movements.
But Washington is also wary of the prospect of any conflict between Turkish forces and the Kurdish administration running northern Iraq -- two key US allies with chilly ties.
Ankara has long accused the Iraqi Kurds of tolerating and even aiding the PKK by providing them safe haven, weapons and ammunition.
Gates is expected to arrive in Ankara late Wednesday for a visit that will include meeting with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President Abdullah Gul, Defence Minister Vecdi Gonul and chief of general staff Yasar Buyukanit.
Gates urged Ankara to back up the military action against the PKK with political and economic measures to win over its sizeable Kurdish community and erode popular support for the rebels, who have waged an armed separatist campaign in southeast Turkey since 1984.
"There certainly is a place for security operations, but these also need to be accompanied by economic and political initiatives," Gates said.
"They need to deal with some of the issues and complaints that some of the Kurds have and move this in a non-military direction in order to get a long-term solution," he said.
Erdogan's government is already under pressure at home to improve the rights of the Kurds and consider an amnesty for PKK rebels to encourage them to lay down arms.
In its strongest reaction to date, the Iraqi government Tuesday slammed the incursion as "unacceptable" and said it threatened bilateral relations.
Iraqi Kurds demanded the closure of Turkish bases that were set up inside Iraq more than a decade ago.
Washington, however, said its NATO ally had acted "responsibly so far" and called for cooperation between Ankara and Baghdad.
"We understand that Iraq does not want Turkey to be in their region but they also don't want the PKK up in their northern region and they understand what it's like to have terrorists attacking innocent civilians," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.
Ankara has defended the incursion as a legitimate act of self-defence and promised that its forces will return home in the shortest possible time.
On Tuesday, the army said heavy snow in northern Iraq hampered its operations in the mountainous region as local Iraqi sources said troops were closing in on a major PKK camp in the Zap area, near the border.
The army's death toll since the incursion began stood at 19 troops and at least 153 PKK militants.
The rebels claim to have killed around 90 troops, including five shot dead in an ambush Tuesday, and to have downed a Turkish attack helicopter.
Ankara says an estimated 4,000 PKK rebels are holed up in the mountains of northern Iraq and use the region as a springboard for attacks in Turkey.
More than 37,000 people have been killed since the PKK took up arms in 1984.
