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Baghdad: Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested on Tuesday that Turkey could stage an incursion in Northern Iraq to pursue Kurdish PKK rebels, in response to a string of violence over the past four days which has killed 17 Turkish soldiers.
Turkey continued aerial attacks in Iraq's Avasin Baysan region and Turkish mountains bordering Iraq on Tuesday.
"Iraq is our neighbour and the people there are our brothers, our relatives," Erdogan said in parliamentary speech. "If there is the need, an operation will not target the civilians or Iraq's integrity."
Sa'adi Al Barazanji, a Kurdish member of Iraqi parliament, told Gulf News that the Kurdish political leadership in Arbil could play a mediating role between Turkey and the PKK.
His comments come amid growing concern in political circles in Arbil and Slaymaniyah that a truce cannot be reached because of Turkey's refusal to negotiate with the PKK or accept the help of the regional government in Kurdistan to reach a solution.
Possible deal
Sources close to the Iraqi government say that the differences between Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki and leader of the Kurdish Democratic Pary, Massoud Barzani, might push Al Maliki to form a deal with Turkey to tighten security in Kurdistan. In the name of 'the fight against the PKK militants' this could force Barzani to make concessions in the sovereignty of certain disputed areas.
- With additional inputs from AP
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