A high-level Iraqi delegation arrived in Ankara on Thursday to discuss steps Turkey and Iraq can take to ease tension along their borders and eradicate presence of the Kurdish Workers' Party's (PKK) in Iraq.

 

The delegation is led by Iraqi Defense Minister Abdul Qadir al-Ubaidi and Security Minister Shirwan al-Waili, Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) representative Safeen Dizayee and Ministry of Interior Affairs Under Secretary Aydin Khalit, Turkey's semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.

 

Last-ditch diplomatic effort

 

The delegation comes in a last ditch attempt by the Iraqi side to assure Turkey that it is ready to clamp down on the activities of the PKK in northern Iraq as promised by the Iraqi leaders.

 

Ali Babacan, Turkey's foreign minister, said on Wednesday during his tour of Iraq that the visit by the Iraqi delegation "would have no meaning" unless they are able to "come up with concrete proposals."

 

Iraq already has promised to shut down offices used by rebel bases. But Turkey has been suspicious of how far the Iraqi government would go in fulfilling their promises and how much they can do given the little sway they hold over the autonomous Kurdish north.

 

Gul: Turkey running out of patience

 

Before the arrival of the delegation, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said on Thursday morning that Ankara is running out of patience and will not tolerate the use of Iraqi soil for the purpose of launching terrorist activities.

 

"We are totally determined to take all necessary steps to end this threat ... Despite our respect for Iraq's territorial integrity, Iraq should not be a source of threat for its neighbors," Gul said in a speech opening the meeting of Foreign Ministers Council of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) in Ankara.

 

Turkish security sources have confirmed a series of operations by warplanes and ground troops since Sunday into Iraqi territory, although Ankara has said it still hopes diplomacy can stave off the need for a full-scale ground invasion.

 

Turkey's warplanes flew 30 km into Iraq on Tuesday night and the counter-terrorism operations backed by helicopters and warplanes have been under way in southeast of the country, said Turkey's semi-official Anatolia news agency, adding during the operations, a number of shelters belonged to Kurdish rebels were found and destroyed.

 

On Wednesday, Anatolia reported that Turkish armed aircrafts attacked targets of the outlawed PKK along the borders with northern Iraq in the day.

 

Shelling by Turkish artillery of the Iraqi side of the border continued on Thursday, according to CNN Turk.

 

Turkish security officials said Thursday that government troops with tanks and artillery have repulsed an attack by a group of PKK militants near the Iraqi border.

 

Up to 40 attackers targeted Turkish gendarmes, or paramilitary polices, at a military post in the mountainous Hakkari province near the border late on Wednesday, said the officials, adding the militants withdrew back into northern Iraq after heavy clashes. The officials gave no more details about casualties.

 

Ankara has massed up to 100,000 troops along the mountainous border in preparation for a possible cross-border operation to crush the about 3,000 strong PKK rebels, which was approved by the parliament earlier this month.

 

On Wednesday, Turkey's National Security Council, an advisory body of military and civilian leaders, called on the government to implement "immediate" economic sanctions against northern Iraq, including closing border crossings and halting exports of electricity, according to local media.

 

Turkish diplomacy goes on

 

For all the warplane attacks and shellings, Ankara was still holding back from any major strike for now, saying it was still hoping for a diplomatic solution to the crisis.

 

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is in an official visit to Romania after his tour of Britain, urged the United States on Thursday to take action along with Turkey in the struggle against the PKK based in northern Iraq, noting that the United States had taken action against Iraq with less immediate provocation.

 

As a "strategic ally", the US government is obliged to help Turkey battle PKK fighters, just as Turkey sent troops to help the US combat terrorism in Afghanistan, Erdogan said in televised comments in Bucharest, according to local media.

 

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will hold talks with Erdogan and Gul in Ankara on November 1 to discuss measures to tackle PKK militants in Iraq before attending a conference on Iraq on November 3 in Istanbul, Turkey's biggest city.

 

Erdogan is to meet US President George W. Bush in Washington on November 5 to hear on the US response to Ankara's requests.

 

(Xinhua News Agency October 26, 2007)