As nearly 10,000 Turkish troops chase down Kurdish rebels on the southeastern border and into Iraq, Turkey‘s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu met with his Iranian counterpart Ali Akbar Salehi in Ankara Oct. 21, to pledge cooperation against the guerilla forces of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Accounts are disputed on how many Turkish troops have crossed into Iraq, with Ankara claiming it is largely pursuing the guerillas into Iraqi territory with air power. The offensive comes after PKK fighters launched coordinated attacks on multiple army outposts on Turkey’s southeast border area in Hakkari province, leaving four soldiers dead.
The accord comes on the heels of tension between Turkey and Iran over Ankara’s recent decision to allow NATO to deploy a radar on Turkish soil as a component of its planned anti-missile system. (RT, Oct. 21; VOA, Oct. 19)
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