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Sirnak: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to order an incursion into northern Iraq against Kurdish guerrillas yesterday after diplomatic talks with Iraq aimed at averting a cross-border raid failed.
"The moment an operation is needed, we will take that step," Erdogan told a flag-waving crowd in Izmit. "We don't need to ask anyone's permission."
Turkish-Iraqi talks collapsed late on Friday after Ankara rejected proposals by Iraqi Defence Minister General Abdul Qader Jasem for tackling Kurdish guerrillas based in northern Iraq as insufficient. The Iraqi delegation left yesterday.
The United States, which was also represented at the talks, opposes a major incursion, fearing it could destabilise the region.
Erdogan also took a swipe at western countries for not cracking down on PKK members, and said calling the group a terrorist organisation, as the United States and European Union do, was not enough.
"We want action, and if you can't show action, you fail the sincerity test," he said. "Those who overlook terrorism are in cooperation with terrorism," he told a conference earlier.
Turkey has massed up to 100,000 troops on the frontier for a possible offensive.
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