Turkish Raids Against Kurdish Rebels Add New Tension to Iraq Conflict

JIM LEHRER:

And finally tonight, Turkish troops in northern Iraq, with the United States in the middle. Gwen Ifill has our story.

GWEN IFILL:

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was in the oil-rich Kurdish city of Kirkuk this morning on an unannounced visit, just hours after Turkish troops conducted cross-border raids into Kurdish northern Iraq.

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, U.S. Secretary of State: I very much enjoyed my opportunity to be here.

GWEN IFILL:

But Massoud Barzani, the president of the semi-autonomous Kurdish region, refused to meet with Ms. Rice, citing unhappiness that the U.S. provided the Turks with intelligence that aided the attacks today and air raids on Sunday. Rice did not deny that.

CONDOLEEZZA RICE:

This was a Turkish decision. And we have made clear to the Turkish government that we continue to be concerned about anything that could lead to innocent civilian casualties or to a destabilization of the north.

GWEN IFILL:

Overnight, several hundred Turkish troops crossed about a mile-and-a-half into Iraqi Kurdish territory, in pursuit of fighters from the Kurdish Workers Party, known by its acronym, PKK. The PKK is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey and by the United States.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul said today the target was the alleged terrorists, not the Iraqi Kurds.

ABDULLAH GUL, President of Turkey (through translator): Everybody should know that there is only one target for Turkey, which is terror. There are no other goals or targets.

Iraq is a brother country, a friendly neighbor for Turkey. Iraq's stability is very important for us, too. Therefore, from now on, whatever is necessary in the struggle against terrorism, it is being done.

GWEN IFILL:

The Turkish incursion followed weekend bombing runs by the Turkish air force. Air strikes flattened a village in the Qandil mountains of northern Iraq, near the Turkish border.

Those sorties angered the central government in Baghdad, who said they had not been informed of the impending flights. On Sunday, a Kurdish government spokesman warned the Turks to tread lightly.

JAMAL ABDULLAH, Spokesman, Kurdistan Regional Government (through translator):

We call on the Turkish military army to differentiate between the PKK rebels and ordinary civilians. We don't want the conflict between the Turkish troops and the PKK to be diverted into a conflict between the Turkish forces and the people of Kurdistan.

GWEN IFILL:

The Kurds of northern Iraq have long sought autonomy. The Turks have a sizable Kurdish population in their southeastern region. Tensions have been building for months.

In October, the Turkish parliament voted overwhelmingly to authorize military action against the PKK, and Turkish troops massed on the border. They were primed to strike after the PKK killed a dozen Turkish troops in a cross-border ambush.

The attack was a prime subject of conversation when President Bush met with Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan last month.