Turkey to withdraw troops from Iraq after mission accomplished

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Funeral for Turkish soldiers. Photo:EFE

Turkish government spokesman Cemil Cicek said Turkish troops would withdraw once they had completed their mission.

"Turkey tried hard in the past to avoid this outcome (of military action)... The operation targets only the separatist terrorist organisation, we have no other target," Cicek told reporters after a weekly cabinet meeting in Ankara. "When this operation has hit its targets, our units will return home," he added, without giving a timeframe.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul has postponed a planned trip to Africa this week due to the offensive, Turkey's state Anatolian news agency added. U.S. officials say Ankara has given assurances it will do all it can to avoid civilian casualties in northern Iraq.

There have been no reports of civilian casualties, but residents in villages near the border say they are being targeted in Turkish air strikes and artillery barrages. In a worrying sign, Turkish ground troops have come face to face with Peshmerga forces twice in recent days.

In one incident, a senior Iraqi Kurdish official said Peshmerga soldiers stopped Turkish tanks leaving a base just inside northern Iraq. Turkey has kept small contingents of troops in northern Iraq since earlier offensives in the 1990s.

Iraq's government said on Sunday Turkey should withdraw its troops as soon as possible and urged Ankara to sit down with Baghdad for talks to resolve the crisis over the PKK. It said Turkey was sending a special envoy to Baghdad on Wednesday.

Iraq has called for a diplomatic solution to the PKK presence, saying it has taken some measures to deal with the rebels but is focused on trying to stabilise the rest of Iraq.

Ankara says it has the right under international law to hunt and kill members of the PKK, which is classed as a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.