TURKEY: TURKISH AIR FORCE SHELL KURDISH REBELS IN IRAQ

Описание: (23 Mar 1995) English/Nat

Turkey's military offensive against Kurdish separatists in northern Iraq continued Thursday, with fighting and air strikes taking place for the third straight day.

Turkish soldiers also occupied the town of Zakho, just across the Iraqi border. They took over all the main checkpoints in the area from the Iraqi Kurdish opposition party and opened a military coordination centre there.

Turkish fighter jets on the tarmac in Diyarbakir - Turkey's launching point for strikes on Kurdish rebel camps in northern Iraq.

Air strikes and shelling of the Kurdish rebel movement in northern Iraq continued for a third straight day.

The F-16s and F-5 fighter jets took part in the massive Turkish military operation and also dropped leaflets calling on the rebels to surrender, the Anatolian news agency reported.

At a Turkish air force briefing the officials briefed journalists about the operation which also includes 35-thousand troops in the northern Iraqi border region.

The Turkish troops crossed into northern Iraq on Monday to wipe out the camps of Kurdish separatists who have engaged the government in an 11-year-old war that has killed 15-thousand people.

The offensive is said to be the largest in modern Turkish history, and many Western countries have expressed concern over the safety of civilians -including the 13-thousand Turkish Kurds who fled across the border last year.

Nine thousand refugees live in two U-N camps in Atrush and 4-thousand more settled in villages in the town of Zakho. Many of the refugees are sympathetic to the separatist guerrillas.

Turkish officials say 13 soldiers and more than 200 guerrillas have been killed.

Although Western countries expected Turkey to withdraw from northern Iraq in the shortest time possible, the campaign could take months.

Three E-U foreign ministers visited Ankara today (Thursday) to discuss the situation. France's Alain Juppe sounded a note of caution following the meeting. France has been critical of the Turkish intervention.

SOUNDBITE:
"I've clearly expressed our position. We condemn terrorism and separatism. We think that Turkey must implement its security but we think that this operation is so strong and without any delay so its more than just a usual intervention and we wish that it stop as soon as possible."
SUPER CAPTION: Alain Juppe, French Foreign Minister

A military official said the army's stay could last until the end of summer.

Kurds make up one-fifth of Turkey's 60 (m) million people. A suppression of their cultural rights and the harsh military crackdown has won the guerrillas hundreds of thousands of sympathisers, especially in southeastern Turkey, where they hope to set up an independent homeland.

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