- ANKARA: Turkey's Parliament is debating the fight against separatist Kurdish fighters and is likely to extend by a year the military's mandate to carry out operations against rebel bases in northern Iraq.
The lawmakers are to vote later Tuesday after the closed-door debate about the mandate, which expires on Sunday.
An extension would be aimed at strengthening the military's fighting capacity, despite the government's efforts to end the conflict by granting more cultural rights to Kurds. Turkey's military has repeatedly staged air and ground assaults against Kurdish rebel bases in northern Iraq. The last major incursion was in February 2008.