Turkish Troops Will Enter Northern Iraq
-Turk FM
Fri March
21, 2003 04:43 PM ET
ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey
said on Friday its troops would enter northern Iraq to prevent
an influx of refugees across its borders, but gave no date for
an incursion the United States says it opposes.
Turkey's armed forces would also enter the Iraqi Kurdish
enclave to prevent "terrorist activity," Foreign Minister
Abdullah Gul told reporters at a news conference.
The United States has not agreed to Turkey sending troops
into northern Iraq, a U.S. official said.
Turkey already stations several thousand soldiers a short
distance inside northern Iraq, but Iraqi Kurds oppose their
presence saying they threaten Iraq's territorial integrity.
Gul said Turkey had no designs on Iraqi territory.
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