Source:
ReutersANKARA, June 2 (Reuters) - Turkey's military said late on Friday that its troops had been verbally harassed by local armed forces in northern Iraq and warned that any repeat incident would be met with a tough response.
The army chief of general staff said in a statement that vehicles carrying Turkish troops in civilian dress were stopped by armed local forces, who verbally abused the soldiers.
"This harassment and pointing of guns ended when it became evident that it was caused by a misunderstanding," it said, adding that the soldiers had returned safely to their base.
The army warned that any further harassment of its troops in northern Iraq, where Turkey has retained a small military presence since the Saddam Hussein era, would not be tolerated.
"The slightest unethical behaviour or activity will be deemed as made towards the Republic of Turkey and the Turkish Armed Forces and will receive the utmost necessary response," the statement said.
Read more:
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L02543811.htm
PKK vows to resist any Turkish incursion By SELCAN HACAOGLU, Associated Press Writer
12 minutes ago
CIZRE, Turkey - The top commander of a Kurdish rebel group said his forces would resist any Turkish military incursion aimed at destroying rebel bases in northern Iraq, a news agency reported Saturday.
Turkey has been building up its military forces on the Iraqi border in recent weeks, amid debate among political and military leaders about whether to attack rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, who stage raids in southeast Turkey after crossing over from hideouts in Iraq.
Military experts say it is unlikely that a Turkish incursion would lead to a decisive victory over the PKK rebels.
"No one should expect us to extend our necks as sheep to be slaughtered in the face of an attack aimed at destroying us," Firat news agency quoted the rebel commander, Murat Karayilan, as saying.
more:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070602/ap_on_re_mi_ea/turkey_northern_iraq