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  1. #2321
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    Turkish Helicopters Rocket Rebels

    ANKARA, Turkey - Cobra attack helicopters blasted suspected Kurdish rebel targets Tuesday near the southeastern border with Iraq in a second day of fighting in the Mount Cudi area, which has reportedly claimed the lives of three Turkish soldiers and six guerrillas.

    As the military pressure continued, the government called a Cabinet meeting for Wednesday to discuss a National Security Council recommendation on possible economic measures against groups supporting the Kurdish rebels, private CNN-Turk and NTV television reported.

    Turkey is reportedly considering a string of economic actions against the self-governing Kurdish administration in Iraq's north, where rebels are based. The region is heavily reliant on Turkish electricity and food imports, as well as Turkish investment in construction works.

    The Turkish assault on the mountainside positions in Sirnak province began early Monday with helicopter rocket attacks. Transport helicopters then flew in commando teams and trucks later drove more troops to the area. The fighting went late into the night, and the Cobras resumed their aerial assaults early Tuesday morning. An AP Television News cameraman saw smoke rising from Mount Cudi in the aftermath.

    Three soldiers were killed in the first day of fighting, according to the private Dogan News Agency and Hurriyet newspaper, which published their names. Six rebels from the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, were also killed, the private Cihan news agency reported.

    It was not immediately possible to independently verify the casualty reports.

    One other soldier was killed Monday during operations in Tunceli province when he stepped on a land mine believed to have been hidden by the rebels, bringing the total number of people killed by the PKK in the past month to 46, according to government and media reports.

    Those casualties included at least 30 Turkish soldiers killed in two ambushes that were the boldest attacks in years — and were a major factor in the increasing domestic pressure on Turkey's prime minister to act.

    In the latest of the regular patriotic demonstrations that have been held in cities around the country, some 600 motorcyclists held a moment of silence at an Istanbul cemetery, then drove through the city waving Turkish flags and denouncing the PKK.

    The United States, Iraq, and other countries have been pressuring Turkey to refrain from a cross-border attack against the PKK.

    Such a campaign could derail one of the few stable areas in Iraq, and leave the United States in an awkward position with key allies: NATO-member Turkey, the Baghdad government and the self-governing Iraqi Kurds in the north.

    Turkey has threatened to attack, however, unless scores of PKK leaders are extradited from Iraq.

    On Thursday and Friday, high-ranking officials are to hold talks before a foreign ministers' meeting about Iraq in Istanbul. Scheduled to attend are the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, the Group of Eight industrialized nations, representatives of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the Arab League and the European Union.

    Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is to meet with Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on Friday. Erdogan then flies to Washington on Nov. 5 to meet with President Bush for a meeting many believe will be key in determining whether Turkey carries out its threats of a cross-border incursion.

    PUKmedia :: English - Turkish Helicopters Rocket Rebels

  2. #2322
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    Turkish Artillery Shells Kurdistan Region Territory Again

    A well informed source in Amedi district announced that Turkish artillery shelled Barwary area in Amedi district after midday, Tuesday and the bombardment left no casualties.

    Turkish Media reported Tuesday that Turkish military during a clash killed 15 PKK elements, while PKK announced that they killed 7 Turkish troops.

    PUKmedia :: English - Turkish Artillery Shells Kurdistan Region Territory Again

  3. #2323
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    Peaceful solution of crisis with Turkey

    Baghdad and Ankara agreed on solving crisis of PKK by political means and rejecting the party's attacks as terrorist actions.

    President Jalal Talabani said that Iraq rejects presence the PKK on its soil and Iraqi Govt. works now to finish its armed activity.

    Analysts think that efforts of Talabani, Maliki and Hashemi succeeded at containing the crisis and following the peaceful solution instead of military action.

    The President added at press conference with Turkish foreign minister Ali Babagan in Baghdad that their meeting discussed ways of strengthening bilateral relations at all arenas, especially counter terrorism in Iraq.

    Peaceful solution of crisis with Turkey | Iraq Updates

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  5. #2324
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    PUK and KDP announce a Joint Statement about the PKK Issue

    Mr. Masoud Barzani, the President of the Kurdistan Region, today chaired a joint meeting of the political bureaus of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the two major parties in the Kurdistan Region's coalition government.

    The meeting addressed the Iraqi political process and the current situation in the Kurdistan Region. It focused on the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) responsibilities and considered the democratic process in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region in terms of diplomatic, political, economic, and good neighborly relations. The discussions addressed the current problems between the Republic of Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). They also assessed Turkey's position, policies and conditions towards Iraq.

    The joint political bureaus arrived at the following decisions issued in their signed joint statement:

    1. The Kurdistan Region has not been a part of Turkey's internal political and military problems in the past, and is not so today. The PKK has illegally stationed itself in the border areas between Iraq and Turkey without any legal license or political agreement with the Iraqi Government, the KRG or any political parties. From those border areas the PKK has created various problems for us.

    2. We are ready, together with the Iraqi Federal Government and the US Government, which in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions has a responsibility to protect Iraq, to adopt a correct approach to protect the borders and prevent any use of these areas for activities against our neighbors.

    3. We restate that after the Kurdish uprising of 1991, the election of the Kurdistan National Assembly and the formation of the KRG in 1992, the KRG and its political parties have been, and still are, a factor for peace and stability in the region. We do not support the PKK, or allow any assistance to be provided to them. We hope that all parties, especially the United States, the Iraqi Government, our neighbors and all friendly countries who support the people of Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, will spare no effort at this difficult time to find appropriate solutions to diffuse the current tense situation at our borders. The KRG stands ready to fulfil its responsibilities, as part of federal Iraq, to contribute positively in this process. We are committed to continuing our political and diplomatic efforts to solve this problem. We desire the success of these legal, diplomatic, political and reform efforts and endeavours.

    PUKmedia :: English - PUK and KDP announce a Joint Statement about the PKK Issue

  6. #2325
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    Kurdistan Region Parliament discusses the Turkish Threats

    The Kurdistan Region Parliament is holding a special session now in attendance of Kurdistan region president Mr. Massoud Barzani and the speaker of Kurdistan Region Parliament, Mr. Adnan Mufti, and Mr. Mala Bakhtiar from PUK, Mr. Fadhil Mirani from KDP, and leaders and secretaries of council of Kurdistan Region Political Parties.

    It is scheduled that during this session the issue of PKK and the Turkish threats to launch a military incursion into Kurdistan region territory on the pretext of pursuing PKK elements to be discussed.

    PUKmedia :: English - Kurdistan Region Parliament discusses the Turkish Threats

  7. #2326
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    Iran FM to visit Iraq Wednesday

    Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki is to visit Baghdad on Wednesday, amid growing tensions over Turkish warnings of an incursion against Kurdish militants in north Iraq, media reported on Tuesday.

    “During this one-day trip, Iranian-Iraqi relations will be discussed,” an official source was quoted as telling the ISNA news agency.

    Turkey has threatened a major cross-border assault on bases of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the remote mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan if Baghdad and Washington fail to make good on promises to crack down on the rebels.

    Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan visited Teheran on Sunday, warning Turkey could launch an attack on PKK militants in northern Iraq but failing to win the support of neighbouring Iran for a military strike.
    Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Syria all have Kurdish minorities.

    During a visit to Damascus on Monday, Mottaki and his Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem pledged their countries’ support for efforts to defuse the crisis.

    “The Iranians have initiated efforts which complement those of Syria, because we want to give a political solution a chance,” Muallem said.

    “The PKK terrorists threaten not only Turkey but also Iran and Syria,” said Mottaki. “The terrorist operations from the north of Iraq create a destabilising effect throughout the region.”

    PUKmedia :: English - Iran FM to visit Iraq Wednesday

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  9. #2327
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    Iraq Bill would Lift Contractor Immunity

    The Iraqi government on Tuesday approved draft legislation lifting immunity for foreign private security companies, sending the measure to parliament, a spokesman said.

    The question of immunity has been one of the most serious dispute between the U.S. and the Iraqi government since a Sept. 16 shooting involving Blackwater USA guards that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead.

    The government's decision followed reports that the State Department has promised Blackwater bodyguards immunity from prosecution in its investigation of last month's shooting.

    State Department officials declined to confirm or deny that immunity had been granted. Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell has declined comment about the U.S. investigation.

    Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the draft law approved Tuesday would overturn an immunity order known as Decree 17 that was issued by L. Paul Bremer, who ran the American occupation government until June 2004.

    "It will be sent to the parliament within the coming days to be ratified," he told The Associated Press.

    Al-Dabbagh did not single out Blackwater but said: "According to this law, all security companies will subjected to the Iraqi criminal law and must obey all the country's legal regulations such as: registration, customs, visas, etcetera."

    U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Mirembe Nantongo said she had not seen the measure and had no immediate comment. The embassy has said it was waiting for the results of investigations.

    Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has promised to push through the measure amid growing public anger over the Blackwater shootings in Baghdad and a series of other Iraqi civilian deaths allegedly at the hands of foreign contractors.

    Three senior U.S. law enforcement officials told The Associated Press that all the Blackwater bodyguards involved — both in the vehicle convoy and in at least two helicopters above — were given the legal protection as investigators from the Bureau of Diplomatic Security sought to find out what happened. The bureau is an arm of the State Department.

    The law enforcement and State Department officials agreed to speak only if they could remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the inquiry into the incident.

    The Moyock, N.C.-based company, which is the largest private security firm protecting U.S. diplomats in Iraq, has said its Sept. 16 convoy was under attack before it opened fire in west Baghdad's Nisoor Square, killing 17 Iraqis. A follow-up investigation by the Iraqi government, however, concluded that Blackwater's men were unprovoked. No witnesses have been found to contradict that finding.

    An initial incident report by U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in Iraq, also indicated "no enemy activity involved" in the Sept. 16 incident. The report says Blackwater guards were traveling against the flow of traffic through a traffic circle when they "engaged five civilian vehicles with small arms fire" at a distance of 50 yards.

    The FBI took over the case early this month, officials said, after prosecutors in the Justice Department's criminal division realized it could not bring charges against Blackwater guards based on their statements to the Diplomatic Security investigators.

    Blackwater's contract with the State Department expires in May and there are questions whether it will remain as the primary contractor for diplomatic bodyguards.

    Congress also is expected to investigate the shootings, but a House watchdog committee said it has so far held off, based on a Justice Department request that lawmakers wait until the FBI concludes its inquiry.

    PUKmedia :: English - Iraq Bill would Lift Contractor Immunity

  10. #2328
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    Iraq's Deputy PM: Government's Proposals to Resolve Turkish Border Crisis Still on the Table

    Iraq's deputy prime minister, a Kurd, said Monday that the government's proposals to resolve the border crisis with Turkey were "still on the table" as the government tries to prevent an incursion against Kurdish rebels operating in the north.

    Barham Saleh, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Kurdish deputy, warned that any unilateral Turkish military action would violate Iraq's sovereignty and threaten stability in both countries.

    "The best way is to work together to deal with this problem," he told AP Television News in an interview. "And both governments together with the coalition need to find ways and means by which we deal with it and assure the security of the borders."

    Saleh urged Turkey to reconsider proposals offered during a meeting in Ankara on Friday.

    The Iraqi delegation suggested U.S. monitors in the border region, reinforcing border posts and setting up new ones to prevent illegal crossings and reviving a negotiation process among Iraq, Turkey and the U.S. that stalled earlier this year.

    The Iraqis also pledged to do everything possible to help free eight Turkish soldiers who were allegedly captured by guerrillas in an ambush Sunday if they were being held in Iraq. But Turkey's Foreign Ministry rejected the steps, saying they were not urgent enough.

    "These proposals are still on the table for Turkey to consider," he said.

    "We believe there is a serious problem that needs a serious solution. That solution needs the cooperation between Iraq, the coalition and Turkey," he added. "We are ready to do so but threats and unilateral military action will not resolve this matter, it will only destabilize the situation and it would be detrimental to Turkish interest and Iraqi interest and it will only help the extremists."

    Military momentum and public calls for action are building in Turkey, fueled by rebel attacks that have killed dozens this month.

    But the threatened incursion into northern Iraq worries Washington because it could upset one of the few relatively tranquil areas in Iraq. It also would put the U.S. in an awkward position between key allies: NATO member Turkey on one side and the Baghdad government and the north's self-governing Iraqi Kurds on the other.

    The Kurdistan Workers' party, known as the PKK, is a Kurdish guerrilla group based in northern Iraq that has been staging cross-border attacks in its fight for autonomy for the Kurdish ethnic minority in southeastern Turkey since 1984.

    Iran, which has its own problems with Kurdish opposition groups, also has pressed for the crisis to be resolved peacefully.

    PUKmedia :: English - Iraq's Deputy PM: Government's Proposals to Resolve Turkish Border Crisis Still on the Table

  11. #2329
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    President Talabani meets with a Delegation of Sadir Movement

    Iraqi president, his Excellency Jalal Talabani today met with a delegation of Sadir Movement MPs in the Iraqi parliament, including Abdul Falah Shanshal, Nasir al-Saedi, Ali al- Bali, and Ahmed al-Massudi.

    The delegation delivered greetings of Mr. Muqtada al-Sadr to president Talabani and on behalf of him asked president Talabani to defend innocent detainees from Sadir Movement, expressing their readiness to support and cooperate with the government of PM al Maliki, establishing stability and preserving the sovereignty of law in Iraq.

    President Talanbi on his side welcomed them warmly and asked them to deliver his salutation to Mr. Muqtada al-Sadr, appreciating the initiative by the Sadir Movement to stop armed activities of Mahdi army and promised them to contact the Iraqi PM and the MNF in Iraq to put forward their demands.

    President Talabani also expressed his condolence to the families of al-Sadir city martyrs, expressing his readiness to help the wounded ones as well.

    Finally the delegation thanked President Talabani for his stances, appreciating his Excellency’s role in defending innocent Iraqis.

    PUKmedia :: English - President Talabani meets with a Delegation of Sadir Movement

  12. #2330
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    Mufti and Barzani hold a Joint Press Conference

    Speaker of Kurdistan Region Parliament, Mr. Adnan Mufti, and Kurdistan region president Mr. Massoud Barzani held a joint press conference today following a special closed session of the Kurdistan region parliament about the Turkish threats and the possibility of a Turkish cross-border operation into Iraqi Kurdistan region territory.

    “As the result of the session we reached to a stance that the Kurdistan region people are united and seeking peace and makes its efforts for a peaceful solution to the crisis” Speaker of Kurdistan Region Parliament said.

    President Massoud Barzani stressed again that peace and dialogue are the best options to deal with the issues, denying that Kurdistan region to be a part in the conflict between Turkey and PKK.

    He also said they tried indirectly to urge PKK to release the Turkish prisoners.

    Speaker of Kurdistan Region Parliament said that he will head a visiting delegation to Baghdad in the coming days to meet with president Talabani and Iraqi PM, Nuri al Maliki, and they may participate in a session of the Iraqi parliament to discus the Turkish threats.

    “We are not the enemy of Turkey and we want to solve the issues through dialogue not through the language of threat, because language of threat is out of use and it will not serve any side.” President Massoud Barzani said.

    PUKmedia :: English - Mufti and Barzani hold a Joint Press Conference

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