Turkey takes its fight against Kurdish rebels across Iraqi border

TURKISH troops crossed into northern Iraq in pursuit of guerrillas from outlawed Kurdish group the PKK yesterday, as the renewed fighting in the south-east of the country escalated.

It was the first time Turkish soldiers had entered Iraqi territory for four years — and the first time since a 2013 ceasefire was thought to have ended Turkey’s three-decade long civil war, which killed 40,000 people. The troops were pursuing a group of around 40 PKK guerrillas believed to be responsible for a roadside bomb attack on Sunday that killed 16 soldiers travelling in a convoy near the Iraqi border.

President Recip Tayyip Erdogan promised yesterday that he would not abandon the country to “terrorists” as another 15 soldiers were killed in two further attacks blamed on the PKK.

He said Turkish operations had inflicted “serious damage” on the PKK. The ground operation followed a night of bombing raids against PKK bases, including those in the mountains of the Kurdistan Autonomous Region (KAR) of Iraq, in reprisal for Sunday’s attack.

The recent breakdown of the ceasefire followed PKK accusations that Turkey was aiding Islamist groups, including Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, in their war on the Kurds in Syria.

Since hostilities resumed in earnest in early August, more than 100 Turkish soldiers and police have been killed in attacks. The PKK said scores of its fighters have been killed, though Mr Erdogan claimed 2,000 PKK deaths.

Fourteen police officers were killed by another roadside bombing, this time in Igdir province, yesterday morning. Another policeman was killed and three wounded in Tunceli province.

Meanwhile, a major security operation in the Kurdish town of Cizre was said by pro-Kurdish media to have killed seven people.

The ceasefire followed long negotiations with the PKK’s jailed leader, Abdullah Ocalan, as a result of which Mr Erdogan’s Islamist AK Party offered greater cultural freedom and autono- my for the Kurds. The Kurds have also dropped demands for independence.

However, the establishment of Kurdish enclaves in Syria run by the YPG, a Syrian PKK affiliate, is regarded by Mr Erdogan as a major threat. The president has reportedly said he sees Isil as a lesser danger than the PKK.

Abdel Karim Faris, Iraq’s acting deputy justice minister, was yesterday kidnapped by gunmen in Baghdad, the second high-profile abduction in the Iraqi capital in less than a week.