Turks battle Kurds near Iraqi-S

[root at newsdesk.aps.nl]

From: newsdesk at newsdesk.aps.nl (Newsdesk Amsterdam)
Subject: Re: Turks battle Kurds near Iraqi-Syrian border
Reply-To: root at newsdesk.aps.nl

-------------- Forwarded from : nytmx at mit.xs4all.nl (NY Transfer) --------------


Turks battle Kurds near Iraqi-Syrian border
By Suna Erdem

    ZAKHO, Iraq, March 27 (Reuter) - Turkish troops battled both
rebel Kurds and adverse news reports in northern Iraq on Monday,
fighting to keep their enemy from fleeing to Syria while making
it harder for journalists to cover the conflict.
    Turkish soldiers in the Iraqi town of Zakho told of frequent
clashes with the rebels near Iraq's border with Syria. Rebel
leader Abdullah Ocalan is believed to be based in Damascus or
the Syrian-controlled Bekaa Valley in Lebanon.
    ``We won't let them get across of course,'' a soldier said.
    Turkey launched the largest military campaign of its modern
history a week ago, sending 35,000 troops into northern Iraq,
mainly around the border town of Zakho, in a bid to smash bases
of the Kurds fighting for a homeland in southeast Turkey.
    Turkey toughened press restrictions at the Iraqi border on
Monday. Border guards said they received a new directive
requiring permits for journalists to enter northern Iraq.
    ``No one can come in without a pass,'' said an officer at
the main crossing point at Habur in Turkey. It was not
immediately clear how the necessary passes could be obtained.
    ``The border has been closed to the foreign press because
they are wandering around irresponsibly (in Iraq),'' Colonel
Ahmet Yuksel, a military spokesman, told Reuters in the Turkish
city of Diyarbakir, nerve centre of the operation.
    He did not say how long the restriction would last.
    The new policy appeared aimed at curtailing reports, largely
by the foreign press, of civilian casualties from Turkish
artillery, tanks and air raids.
    Despite Turkish denials, Iraqi Kurds and Western aid workers
said two civilians were killed and about nine were wounded.
    Turkish soldiers said themselves that most of the rebels --
guerrillas of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) -- had already
fled the border region, warned off by a slow, visible build-up
before the troops moved in.
    The mission commander said his troops should remain in Iraq
indefinitely, citing ``certain practices in international law''
to support occupation of another sovereign country.
    ``There are some critical points where we could stay and
must stay,'' Liutenant-General Hasan Kundakci told the Milliyet
daily in remarks published on Monday. Authorities have so far
placed no time limit on the operation.
    Turkey, which this month took a key step towards membership
of the European Union by signing a customs union with Brussels,
has come under harsh criticism from its Western allies over
civilian casualties and human rights.
    German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel last week warned things
would get tough for Ankara the moment the world saw pictures of
civilian casualties. Little or no footage of such incidents has
so far appeared on major television networks.
    French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe told Turkey its military
offensive jeopardised the customs union, still to be approved by
the European Parliament.
    Journalists, mostly television teams with cassettes, milled
around on the Iraqi side of the Habur crossing, unable to leave
for fear of not being allowed back in.
    Turkish and foreign media rely on the crossing to file
stories and television footage of the incursion. Northern Iraq
has virtually no international telephone connections.
 REUTER
Reut06:48 03-27

Reuter N:Copyright 1995, Reuters News Service