By Prensa Latina
Ankara : Turkish helicopters gunned possible guerrilla positions of the illegal Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in the north of Iraq Wednesday, while Turkish troops moved from eastern Semdinli to the Iraqi border, Hurriyet digital page reported.
The Army General Staff did not confirm the operation, which would be the first since the seven days of combat involving 10,000 troops that ended last week, with presumably 240 PKK casualties and 27 Turkish soldiers. PKK reports were the reverse.
News channel NTV reported the incursion and attributed the information to the Kurdistan Patriotic Union, the political party to which Iraqi President Jalal Talabani belongs.
Talabani will fly to Turkey on Friday at the invitation of Turkish President Abdullah Gül, to discuss bilateral relations
Turkey denounced the presence of thousands of PKK fighters in northern Iraq. The PKK is an organization fighting for Kurdish autonomy since 1984.
After a meeting last autumn between US President George W. Bush and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and intelligence information subsequently received, the Turkish Parliament authorized the government to send troops into Iraq to fight the Kurdish rebels, the first such attack on Iraqi soil in 10 years.