Official Turkish sources say military operations have taken place inside Iraqi territory. Following US criticism, Iraqi Kurdish authorities call on PKK to abandon the use of violence. Turkey’s National Security Council meets in a special session in Ankara to decide possible “large scale” operation.

Ankara (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Turkish forces launched ground and air strikes aimed at Kurdish PKK rebels in northern Iraq, entering Iraqi territory between Sunday and Tuesday, official sources in Ankara announced. They indicated that this operation was not the dreaded “large scale offensive,” which Washington and Baghdad are trying to avoid, but rather an incursion similar to others that have taken place in the past. Meanwhile tensions along the border remain high as the Kurdistan Regional Government formally condemned “the use of violence as a doctrine and method to achieve political objectives.”

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Çiçek, was quoted by the Hürriyet newspaper, as saying that several F-16 warplanes struck targets along the border and rebel bases well inside Iraqi territory.

In three days of operation Turkish troops claim to have killed 34 PKK guerrillas.

This operation comes in response to the latest attack by Kurdish rebels against Turkish troops in south-eastern Anatolia which left 17 Turkish soldiers dead.

Diplomatic activity is also intense. Both Iraq and the United States are really worried that Turkey’s announced “large scale” intervention might destabilise the only Iraqi region that enjoys relative peace and progress.

Washington has called for more time to mount a joint operation with Ankara in northern Iraq.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki said he will close the offices of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebel group and will “not allow it to operate on Iraqi soil.”

For its part Ankara said it was considering unspecified sanctions against Iraq should it fail to stop incursions by the PKK.

Following criticism from the US State Department against Kurdish authorities for being lax in pursuing the rebels, the office of the Presidency of the Kurdistan Regional Government issued a statement calling upon the PKK to end the armed struggle and condemning the use of Iraqi territory, “including the territories of the Kurdistan Region, as a base to threaten the security of neighbouring countries.”

The option of a military attack remains never the less on the table. A special meeting of Turkey’s National Security Council is underway today, with top generals, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the ministers of the interior, of foreign affairs and defence as well as President Abdullah Gül taking part in the discussions.

Turkish media speculate that it might lead to a decision to attack.

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