Turkish parliament extends government's authority to conduct operations against PKK in N. Iraq

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Turkish parliament agreed to extend the government's authority to deploy ground troops and conduct operations in northern Iraq to crush Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) hideouts in that country, but Turkey's experience in the past year has shown that cross-border operations do not have a huge impact on Turkey's fight against terrorism, Today's Zaman reports.



A bill authorizing the government to launch military offensives in northern Iraq was passed in October of last year with 507 votes for and 19 against.



Since then Turkey has conducted ground operations in northern Iraq only once, but air strikes have been launched many times. An attack last Friday on the Aktutun military outpost located in Hakkari near the Iraqi border, taking the lives of 17 soldiers, shows that nearly a year after Parliament approved cross-border operations Turkey is still vulnerable to attacks by PKK terrorists.



Yesterday's vote garnered more support than had been previously expected with 511 voting in favor and 18 against.



The decision to extend mandate was taken soon after at least three police officers and one civilian were killed with as many as 20 wounded in an attack on a Diyarbakir police station.