Kurds pressured in northern Iraq
The threat of a Turkish incursion appears to be worrying PKK leaders
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Thursday, 01, Nov 2007 11:54
A Kurdish rebel leader has called on Turkey to put forward a "peace plan" as the international community steps up its pressure against his cause.
The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has come under sustained pressure after a series of terrorist attacks prompted the Turkish parliament to approve an incursion into Iraq on October 17th.
The Turkish army has already launched a series of attacks on PKK bases within Turkey and now rebel leaders in the autonomous, Kurdish-governed northern region of Iraq are also facing military action.
In the last 24 hours a series of measures stopping short of direct force have been unveiled. Turkey has imposed economic sanctions on organisations believed to be supporting the PKK; the Iraqi government in Baghdad has pledged more checkpoints on the Turkey-Iraq border; and the US has said it will give Turkey more intelligence on PKK positions.
Earlier today the Reuters news agency reported that the Turkish government had shut down flights to and from northern Iraq, but it later said these had been denied by prime minister Tayyip Erdogan.
Responding to these developments, Abdul Rahman al-Chadirchi told the AFP news agency that he was looking for a way to end the recent violence.
"I call upon Turkey to be courageous and present a peace plan to solve the problem. In this way it is possible to have a ceasefire," he said.
Turkey has previously voiced its preparedness to act against elements of the PKK based in Iraq and remains committed to minimising the impact of the conflict on civilians.
"Neither people living on the other side of the border, nor our people who are earning their livings thanks to that border, should suffer hardship as a result of these precautions," the Associated Press news agency quoted deputy prime minister Cemil Cicek as saying.
"Other measures we have taken, including the economic ones, will be in line with this sensitivity."