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http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/a...?enewsid=64244

US raids alleged PKK camp in northern Iraq

ISTANBUL - TDN with wire dispatches

In a move widely regarded as aiming to ease Turkey's concerns, U.S. and Iraqi troops launched an "operation" against the Mahmur Refugee Camp in northern Iraq. The camp was established in the 1990s when thousands of Kurds from Turkey crossed the Iraqi border, a move the Turkish government believes was provoked by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) to attract international attention.

Ankara claims that the Mahmur Camp is a safe haven for the PKK, and was demanding from the United States that the camp should be closed down.

An official of the Mahmur district, Abdurrahman Palef, said that Iraqi army and coalition forces launched the operation to the camp, which harbors around 10,000 Kurdish refugees from Turkey, yesterday morning. Spokesperson of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Turkey, Metin Çorabatır, confirmed that there had been a raid on the camp.

Palef said that the aim of the operation was �to get a head count, identity verification and see if there were any military elements at the camp," reported Doğan News Agency. "Not even one bullet was found during the operation," he said. "There are no problems."

The news of the search was welcomed by Turkey's Anti-Terror Special Envoy, Edip Başer.

Başer, a retired general noted that they had informed the United States about the situation at the camp. "I think this is the first step of the decision [to take action against the camp]. As it is difficult to separate civilians and terrorists, I think the aim is to scan residents," he said.

Turkey expects more:"New steps for other problematic areas will be taken. You will see them in a short period of time but you won't see some others for they are not those kind of steps to be publicized," he told journalists in Ankara. Başer added that Turkey is expecting more.

Spokesperson of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Turkey, Metin Çorabatır, confirmed to the Turkish Daily News that there had been a raid on the camp and said the U.N. agency was not involved. "For some time, there have been talks between Turkey and the UNCHR over the future of the camp and a possible voluntary return of the residents," he told the TDN over the phone. "But lately we were observing increased political activity at the camp. We believe radical elements were settling down there."

Noting that since the 2003 attack against the U.N. in Baghdad, the Mahmur Camp was not run by UNHCR and thus there was a lack of authority at the camp, Çorabatır added that the raid might be a first step in determining the future of the camp.

Meanwhile, a representative of the Mahmur Refugee Camp, Hüseyin Seyhan, said to a Kurdish news agency that it had been a "routine control" operation.

"Around 500 Iraqi soldiers searched the camp," he said to the pro-Kurdish ANF News Agency. "In the morning hours they came and asked to conduct an official search, demanding we help them. We made an announcement to the people residing at the camp, and then a house-to-house search was made." Seyhan confirmed that U.S. soldiers joined the search. He added that the inspection was done ahead of the population count to be done by the United Nations on Jan. 26. "We helped the soldiers during the search," he said, according to the ANF Web site.

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To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

troung

Reports: US raids PKK camp in Iraq


Thursday, January 18, 2007

ISTANBUL - TDN with wire dispatches


In a move widely regarded as aiming to ease Turkey's concerns, U.S. and Iraqi troops launched an "operation" against the Mahmur Refugee Camp in northern Iraq. The camp was established in the 1990s when thousands of Kurds from Turkey crossed the Iraqi border, a move the Turkish government believes was provoked by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) to attract international attention.

Ankara claims that the Mahmur Camp is a safe haven for the PKK, and was demanding from the United States that the camp should be closed down.

An official of the Mahmur district, Abdurrahman Palef, said that Iraqi army and coalition forces launched the operation to the camp, which harbors around 10,000 Kurdish refugees from Turkey, yesterday morning. Spokesperson of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Turkey, Metin Çorabatır, confirmed that there had been a raid on the camp.

Palef said that the aim of the operation was “to get a head count, identity verification and see if there were any military elements at the camp," reported Doğan News Agency. "Not even one bullet was found during the operation," he said. "There are no problems."

The news of the search was welcomed by Turkey's Anti-Terror Special Envoy, Edip Başer.

Başer, a retired general noted that they had informed the United States about the situation at the camp. "I think this is the first step of the decision [to take action against the camp]. As it is difficult to separate civilians and terrorists, I think the aim is to scan residents," he said.

Turkey expects more:"New steps for other problematic areas will be taken. You will see them in a short period of time but you won't see some others for they are not those kind of steps to be publicized," he told journalists in Ankara. Başer added that Turkey is expecting more.

Spokesperson of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Turkey, Metin Çorabatır, confirmed to the Turkish Daily News that there had been a raid on the camp and said the U.N. agency was not involved. "For some time, there have been talks between Turkey and the UNCHR over the future of the camp and a possible voluntary return of the residents," he told the TDN over the phone. "But lately we were observing increased political activity at the camp. We believe radical elements were settling down there."

Noting that since the 2003 attack against the U.N. in Baghdad, the Mahmur Camp was not run by UNHCR and thus there was a lack of authority at the camp, Çorabatır added that the raid might be a first step in determining the future of the camp.

Meanwhile, a representative of the Mahmur Refugee Camp, Hüseyin Seyhan, said to a Kurdish news agency that it had been a "routine control" operation.

"Around 500 Iraqi soldiers searched the camp," he said to the pro-Kurdish ANF News Agency. "In the morning hours they came and asked to conduct an official search, demanding we help them. We made an announcement to the people residing at the camp, and then a house-to-house search was made." Seyhan confirmed that U.S. soldiers joined the search. He added that the inspection was done ahead of the population count to be done by the United Nations on Jan. 26. "We helped the soldiers during the search," he said, according to the ANF Web site.