Turkish commander hints Turkey on verge of cross-border offensive in Iraq

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
An army commander hinted that Turkey was on the verge of launching a cross-border operation into Iraq, saying Thursday the military was implementing a parliamentary authorization for an incursion, private NTV television reported. Turkey's parliament last month gave the government the green light to order an operation into neighboring Iraq to dislodge separatist Kurdish rebel camps in the north of the country. Land Forces' Commander Gen. Ilker Basbug was quoted by NTV as saying "we are in the process of implementing the authorization." Basbug said that, although a cross-border operation would not eradicate the rebel group - the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK - it would deal a heavy blow to the guerrillas, NTV reported.