Turkey claims success, withdraws from northern Iraq

BAGHDAD – Turkey announced today that it had pulled its troops out of northern Iraq, concluding a large-scale offensive against Kurdish separatist guerrillas that has strained relations between the two U.S. allies.

A statement by the Turkish military command said the weeklong operation had achieved its goals by denying militants from the Kurdish Workers Party, or PKK, a permanent and secure base in the mountainous border region from which to launch attacks on Turkish territory.

“It is out of the question that the terrorist organization is entirely eliminated with one regional operation,” the Turkish command said in the statement posted on its website. “However, it has been shown to the organization that the north of Iraq is not a safe place for terrorists.”

Iraq’s foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, confirmed the pullout.

“As of this morning, 4 a.m., the Turkish troops who entered Kurdish territory have withdrawn and gone back to their side of the border,” Zebari told The Times by telephone. “This is good news; we welcome that.”

However, PKK spokesman Ahmed Denis disputed that the withdrawal was complete. Though he agreed Turkish troops had left the Zab area, the focus of some of the most intense clashes in recent days, he said some remained in other places.

“Until this moment there are two military units, about 200 Turkish soldiers, which are trapped and in the range of fire of the PKK,” Denis said. “Thirteen of them were killed since last night.”

U.S. and Iraqi officials had urged Turkey to wrap up its operation as quickly as possible, a message reiterated Thursday by U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates on a visit to Ankara. However, the statement from the Turkish General Staff said the decision to pull out was based solely on an assessment of the military needs.

“No internal or external influences were a factor in this decision,” it said.

Thousands of Turkish troops, backed by warplanes and artillery, crossed into northern Iraq on Feb. 21 in pursuit of the Kurdish rebels, who have been fighting since 1984 for an independent homeland in southeastern Turkey.

The incursion put the United States in an awkward position as it tried to balance the security needs of Turkey, a NATO ally, against concerns that a large-scale military operation could destabilize the relatively peaceful semi-autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq.

Washington regards the PKK as a terrorist group and has said that Turkey has a right to defend itself. U.S. officials have pressed Iraq to do more to help crack down on the PKK and have supplied intelligence to Turkey about the group’s activities here.

But the offensive, Turkey’s largest incursion in years, angered Iraqi officials, who called it a violation of Iraqi sovereignty.

“We believe that there are other ways to address the PKK issue,” said Zebari, a Kurd.

Turkey maintained throughout the operation that its forces would avoid civilian areas and only target PKK bases. But the Kurdish regional authorities in Iraq complained that several bridges were destroyed.

The Turkish military claimed to have “eliminated” 240 militants during the offensive, which it said claimed the lives of 24 Turkish soldiers and three village guards.

It also claimed to have struck hundreds of infrastructure targets, including caves; shelters; command centers; communications, training and logistic facilities; and weapons positions.

The militants have disputed the Turkish accounts, which they say are exaggerated. They claim to have killed at least 100 Turkish soldiers, but have not provided a figure for their own dead.

The military said it would continue to monitor the area.

“No threats to Turkey from this region will be allowed,” it said.

alexandra.zavis@latimes.com

Zavis reported from Baghdad and Comert from Istanbul. Times special correspondent Asso Ahmed contributed to this report from Sulaymaniya, Iraq.