ANKARA, 29 February 2008 — Turkey’s incursion against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq should be short and focused, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said yesterday. But Turkey’s military chief declined to set a timetable for the withdrawal of troops, who have been operating in Iraq for a week.
“The United States believes the current offensive should be as short and precisely targeted as possible,” Gates said after a meeting with Turkish counterpart Vecdi Gonul.
Gen. Yasar Buyukanit said he told Gates in a meeting later that Turkey’s fight against the rebels was long-term, and that the defense secretary reacted with “understanding” to his remark. “Short term is a relative notion. Sometimes it is a day, sometimes it is a year,” NTV and CNN-Turk television news stations quoted Buyukanit as saying.
“We have been struggling against terrorism for 24 years. That is why our struggle against terrorism will continue. The United States is also struggling against terrorism. It has been in Afghanistan for years.”
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Gates that “Turkish soldiers would return after achieving goals,” the state-run Anatolia news agency reported. Gates said Turkish officials did not discuss any deadline and he did not know if they will end the operation in a week as he has asked. Still, he said, “I think they got our message.” “I stand by where I’ve been on this. And that is that they should wrap this thing up as soon as they can,” Gates told reporters.
Gates said he pressed the Turks on three key points: that they need to continue and deepen their dialogue with the Iraqi government, which has strongly objected to the incursion; that they needed to be more open about the specifics of their operation, including the number of troops involved; and that they need to recognize that military means alone will not solve the problem.
The US-backed Iraqi government has demanded an immediate end to the operation, which began Feb. 21. Gates has said the cross-border assault must not last longer than a week or two.
Turkish artillery units fired shells across the Iraqi border and helicopters streamed toward Iraq from the border town of Cukurca, according to an Associated Press photographer at the scene. Gonul said there were no civilians in the areas where Turkish soldiers were conducting their operations.
“We have no intention of disturbing any civilian area. We have no intention of interfering in domestic politics and we have no intention of occupying any area,” Gonul said.
