ANKARA (Hurriyet)–The Turkish government has submitted a motion to Parliament to extend a mandate for military strikes against bases in northern Iraq belonging to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
“Turkey is successfully continuing to execute its military activities along with political and diplomatic moves to end the existence and terrorist activities of PKK terrorists in northern Iraq,” said the motion submitted to Parliament on Wednesday. The current mandate expires Oct. 17.
The motion is likely to be easily approved by Parliament, in which the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) holds a comfortable majority.
The mandate authorizes the government to order cross-border military action against PKK hideouts in northern Iraq that it alleged were used by the group’s members as a launching pad for strikes on Turkish targets across the border.
Parliament has already twice extended the mandate, which was first approved in 2007.
Using intelligence supplied by the United States, the Turkish military has staged a series of air raids against PKK targets in the region since December 2007 and carried out a number of ground incursions.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
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