Turkish officials are discussing new measures against separatist
Kurdish rebels following two deadly attacks on security forces.
Among
the proposals civilian and military leaders are considering Thursday is
the creation of a buffer zone in northern Iraq. Several government
officials cautioned that stationing Turkish forces in Iraq would be
problematic.
A senior Iraqi Kurdish lawmaker also objected to
the idea. Mahmod Osman told VOA Kurdish service that a buffer zone
would not solve the problem, which he said must be resolved politically.
Turkey accuses Iraq of not doing enough to counter PKK rebels based in Iraqi Kurdistan, a charge Iraqi officials deny.
Also Thursday, Turkish police arrested three suspects in Wednesday's attack on
a police bus, which killed four cadets and their driver. The suspects
were arrested in the mainly Kurdish southeastern city Dyarbakir.
It
was the second attack against Turkish security forces in less than a
week. PKK rebels crossing from northern Iraq Friday killed 17 soldiers.
Turkey
has been battling PKK rebels since 1984, when the group launched an
armed campaign for an ethnic homeland in southeast Turkey.
The PKK is classified as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
