Turks Battle Kurds In Iraq

At least 1,000 Turkish soldiers crossed into northern Iraq, apparently the start of their yearly spring campaign against Kurdish rebel hideouts there, military sources said Saturday.

Over the past three days, soldiers have gone three miles into Iraqi territory from the Turkish provinces of Hakkari and Sirnak, Turkish military and local sources said.

Turkey regularly crosses into northern Iraq to chase rebels of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which have been fighting a 15-year war for autonomy in southeast Turkey.

Up to 50,000 troops are gathered on the Turkish-Iraqi border, ready to take part in a large-scale operation, Turkish and Kurdish sources said.

During their operations in northern Iraq, the Turkish army often keeps a three-mile buffer zone inside Iraq.

Private television NTV reported that the troops crossed the border after receiving information that the rebels were re-establishing camps close to the border. No serious clashes have been reported, NTV said.

Kurdish rebels retreated into bases in northern Iraq before the winter after announcing a cease-fire and a withdrawal from Turkey. They later announced an end to armed struggle and say they are ready to surrender if Turkey grants cultural rights to its 12 million Kurds.

The operation would come as Turkey is under increasing pressure from Europe to find a peaceful solution to the war and grant more rights to Kurds, who are not recognized as an official minority.

A member of the PKK's political wing in Europe warned that a Turkish operation would lead to renewed clashes which have been reduced to a trickle since the PKK's withdrawal last year.

He said the PKK would defend itself if attacked.

Some 37,000 people, mostly Kurds, have been killed in the war.

Iraq's northern areas are outside Baghdad's control, governed by two rival Iraqi Kurdish factions. One of the factions has been fighting the PKK alongside the Turkish army.