Turkey to extend authority for cross-border operations against PKK

17/09/2008

ANKARA, Turkey -- The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) decided on Tuesday (September 16th) to extend authority given to the army to launch cross-border operations into northern Iraq for another year. The army's current mandate for military action against the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in northern Iraq expires on October 17th. The AKP said it would validate its decision at a cabinet meeting following discussions with members of the party's executive board later this week. It would then submit the proposal to parliament for approval. More than 2,000 PKK militants have purportedly taken refuge in northern Iraq.

In other news Tuesday, the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) rejected charges of alleged links to the PKK. DTP leader Ahmet Turk went before the Constitutional Court to defend his party against charges it supports terrorism. The DTP "has no organic links" with the PKK, Turk told reporters after the hearing, insisting that his party is working for a democratic future in Turkey. Last year, Chief Prosecutor Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya filed a case with the Constitutional Court against the DTP, demanding its closure for alleged links to the PKK. (Zaman, Milliyet - 17/09/08; Hurriyet, Anadolu news agency, NTV, Zaman - 16/09/08)