Pressure increases on PKK rebels

Turkey, Iraq and the US have all taken steps to combat the threat of Kurdish fighters based in northern Iraq and defuse the crisis in the region.

The Turkish government has announced economic sanctions against groups which support those responsible for a recent upsurge in attacks on Turkish soldiers.

The move came after Baghdad announced more checkpoints to curb the activities of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

The US also said it was giving Turkey intelligence on PKK positions in Iraq.

Washington has urged the Turkish government to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis on its south-eastern border, where it has deployed thousands of troops and threatened to invade.

'Precautions'

Following a cabinet meeting on Wednesday evening, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek said his government had initiated "military, political diplomatic measures" to combat the PKK.

"The targets of these measures are the terrorist organization and those groups which are supporting, aiding and abetting it," he said.

Mr Cicek gave no details of the economic measures, but correspondents say they may result in a boycott of the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government in northern Iraq, which Ankara says is failing to rein in the activities of the PKK.

The territory receives food imports from Turkey, as well as investment and electricity supplies.

Mr Cicek said Turkey would avoid making innocent people suffer hardship as a result of the "precautions".

Earlier, the US Department of Defence said it had stepped up supplying Ankara with "actionable intelligence" on the positions of PKK fighters in northern Iraq.

THE PKK Formed in late 1970s Launched armed struggle in 1984 Dropped independence demands in 1990s Wants greater autonomy for Turkey's Kurds Leader Abdullah Ocalan arrested in 1999 Ended five-year ceasefire in 2004 Called a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the EU and US

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said the US had given Turkey "intelligence with regards to this situation for a long time".

"We are assisting the Turks in their efforts to combat the PKK by supplying them with intelligence, lots of intelligence," he added.

"The key for any sort of military response from the Turks or anyone else is having actionable intelligence and that's a pretty high standard, and we are making efforts to help them get actionable intelligence."

No details were given of how the information is collected but reports suggest American-manned U2 spy planes have been flying over the Turkish-Iraqi border.

Last week, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said his country and Turkey needed better intelligence about the location of PKK fighters in northern Iraq before launching any military strikes.

Border tensions

The Iraqi government says that it too is acting against the PKK.

Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari - a Kurd - said checkpoints along the border with Turkey were being set up to cut off the PKK's supply lines.

He added that he had not given up hope of a peaceful solution to the problems.

Mr Zebari's comments came after he met his Iranian counterpart, Manouchehr Mottaki, for talks in advance of a conference about Iraq on Saturday in Istanbul.

The meeting, bringing together Iraq's neighbours with major international powers and institutions, is aimed at bolstering the country's security and stability.

Afterwards, both men stressed that the border tensions in northern Iraq should not be allowed to dominate the conference.

But the tensions clearly loomed large in the talks.

The two men agreed that the activities of the PKK against Turkey, and those of another Kurdish group, Pejak, against Iran, had to be curbed.

Turkish diplomatic push over PKK

Turkey has said it will exhaust all diplomatic solutions before sending troops into Iraq to stop cross-border attacks by Kurdish PKK fighters.

Foreign Minister Ali Babacan made the announcement as he prepared to travel to Baghdad for talks with senior Iraqis, including PM Nouri Maliki.

The US has again urged Iraq to take swift action against the insurgents to forestall the threatened Turkish raids.

Turkey's UN envoy has warned that his country's patience has its limits.

The PKK has reportedly claimed to have captured several Turkish troops following an attack on Sunday that left 12 soldiers dead. The Turkish military has only confirmed that eight soldiers are still missing.

There has been expectation in Iraq that the PKK will shortly announce a ceasefire, but previous truces have not been acknowledged by Turkey.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is meeting his UK counterpart, Gordon Brown, in London on Tuesday for scheduled talks.

'What other option?'

Mr Babacan has been on a tour of the Middle East to set out Ankara's position.

THE PKK Formed in late 1970s Launched armed struggle in 1984 Dropped independence demands in 1990s Wants greater autonomy for Turkey's Kurds Leader Abdullah Ocalan arrested in 1999 Ended five-year ceasefire in 2004

"Our preference is diplomacy but the military option is no doubt a method in the struggle against terrorism," he said in Ankara on Monday night.

Turkey's envoy to the UN, Baki Ilkin, told the BBC that Turkish patience would not last for ever.

"Iraq has to do something," he said on the World Tonight programme on Radio Four.

"...We have incursions into Turkish territory. We cannot get our hands on them, because they immediately go back to northern Iraq...

"If we can't put our hands on these... terrorists while they are in Turkey, what option do we have?"

Speaking at an Oxford University debate on Monday night, Prime Minister Erdogan reportedly said cross-border military action might be taken "in the next few days" in the absence of "expected developments".

Co-operation pledge

Speaking via a secure video link between the White House and Baghdad on Monday, Mr Maliki agreed with Mr Bush to "work together, in co-operation with the Turkish government, to prevent the PKK from using any part of Iraqi territory to plan or carry out terrorist attacks", a White House statement said.

HAVE YOUR SAY Turkey should join the coalition and handle the security in Northern Iraq Jeff Fogltance, Ontario, United States

"We want the Iraqi government to take swift action to stop the activity of the PKK," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said afterwards.

"We do not want to see wider military action on the northern border."

Mr Bush also spoke to Turkish President Abdullah Gul, telling him of his "deep concern" at recent PKK attacks.

Earlier, the office of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, himself a Kurd, said the PKK would offer a truce shortly.

Sunday's deadly PKK ambush near the Iraqi border has inflamed public opinion in Turkey, with the media and opposition leaders calling for immediate strikes against the rebels.

Last week, the Turkish parliament approved raids into Iraq and up to 100,000 soldiers, backed by tanks, fighter jets and helicopters, have been deployed along the border.

PKK sources reported heavy Turkish shelling of rebel positions after Sunday's ambush but there were no reports of an incursion.

Turkey seeks green light on Iraq

Turkey seeks green light on Iraq MPs in Turkey are due to debate a motion authorising cross-border military operations into northern Iraq to target Kurdish rebel bases there.

Parliament in Ankara is expected to approve the motion by a large majority amid widespread public support for military action against the PKK.

Attacks blamed on the rebels have been escalating inside Turkey in a conflict which dates back more than two decades.

But the US is anxious that Turkish action could destabilise northern Iraq.

It is also embroiled in a row with Turkey over a Congressional vote to recognise the mass killing of Armenians in Ottoman times as genocide.

Turkey is a regional hub for the US military, and some suggest access to Incirlik airbase or other supply lines crucial to US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan could be affected by the row.

Public pressure

The motion says that Turkey has warned Iraq repeatedly to clamp down on the PKK to no avail so now a military option is on the table.

The recent death of 13 Turkish soldiers in an ambush blamed on the PKK has put the government under immense pressure to respond with force, the BBC's Sarah Rainsford reports from Ankara.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said the motion does not mean a military operation is imminent.

But he also warned that Turkey would act decisively in its fight against terrorism.

Iraq and America are urging restraint out of concern that military action by Turkey will bring chaos to the only relatively calm region of Iraq, our correspondent notes.

What Ankara wants is concrete action from them against the PKK to prevent that, she adds.

Iraqi concerns

Iraqi Vice-President Tareq Hashemi, who has been sent to Ankara for talks, said his government understood Turkish anger but wanted to achieve a "common understanding".

Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh warned that unilateral action by Turkey in Iraq could have "very grave consequences".

"If Turkey as a neighbour of Iraq allows itself the right to intervene militarily in Iraq, what is there to prevent other neighbours from intervening?" he asked in the BBC interview.

Jamal Abdallah, a spokesman for the Kurdish regional government in northern Iraq, told there was no co-operation with the PKK.

"We have not helped the PKK and we are not helping it," he said.

The head of the UN refugee agency has said he is deeply concerned that Turkish action could lead to big displacements of people.

Antonio Guterres said the "relatively stable" area had until now acted as a haven for Iraqis displaced from other parts of the country.