Details of October agreement need airingOct 13th, 2007 - 19:47:38

(Extract from this story)

On October 27, Baghdad and Ankara had sealed a security agreement under which Iraq committed to cooperating with Turkish authorities in hunting down PKK rebels in the north. There had been pressure for occasional incursions to be an official part of the deal, but with details not disclosed, reports concerning this point were contradictory. Some reports said the Iraqi side had agreed to cooperate but refused to grant an absolute right to Turkish troops to cross the border in hot pursuit of Kurdish rebels. However, other reports insisted that the agreement gave Turkey a right to chase the rebels inside Iraq - amid strong denials from the Iraqi government.

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The central government in Baghdad needs to be explicit about what the October 27th agreement would allow the Turks to do inside Iraqi territory. It does appear that the agreement left it to Iraq to deal with the PKK, rather than allowing Turkish troops to intervene in Kurdistan. This 'absolute right' notion leaves some room for dispute.

www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/121847.html

Baghdad - Iraq will not allow Turkish troops inside its territories, Kurdish officials and Iraqi government spokesman Ali al- Dabagh said following Ankara's caveat of an incursion into northern Iraq following an ambush on its soldiers. 'Turkey should respect Iraq's sovereignty,' al-Dabagh told Arab broadcasters on Wednesday.

A Kurdish military official said that Iraqi and Kurdish forces would rebuff any attempts at an incursion into Iraqi territories.

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