PUKmedia    21-06-2010    10:39:45

Major General Jabbar Yawir, the KRG ministry of Peshmerga secretary general said in a press statement “the Turkish army has entered the Iraqi territory for 1km depth on Sunday June 20.”

Meanwhile, security sources mentioned that the Turkish forces have penetrated for 10km inside the Iraqi lands.

“Following attacking a Turkish military base by PKK fighters near the Iraqi borders, the Turkish army sent his forces to chase PKK elements. Harsh clashes took place on the border areas between Iraq, Turkey and Iran. Following these clashes, the Turkish forces had penetrated into the Iraqi territory in an area called Gala Zard. The Turkish forces withdrew from that area following ending their operations”, Yawir mentioned.

Regarding the news mentioning that there is an agreement between the region’s president Massoud Barzani and the Turkish government on military operations, Yawir said “President Barzani emphasized through his visit to Turkey that Kurdistan region will not be a part of the current battle between Turkey and PKK.”

“This is an official stance for Kurdistan region. There is no any agreement regarding allowing the Turkish forces to cross the borders, because the security agreements between Iraq and Turkey is under the authorities of the Iraqi government. We are not a country, we are part of Iraq. The Iraqi State is the only authorized side to sign security agreements with neighboring countries according to the Iraqi Constitution. These news are baseless and the region’s leadership cannot give any green light to any neighboring countries, because these are sovereignty matters that are controlled by the Iraqi government”, he added.

Yawir described the Turkish land and aerial bombardment on Kurdistan region as “a violation for Iraq’s sovereignty, international laws and agreements between the three countries Iraq, Turkey and Iran. These attacks are targeting civilians only, the civilians who have no relations neither with the PKK nor PIJAK.”

He renewed KRG’s stance regarding this border crisis by saying “the regional presidency and government always call to solve this crisis through political negotiations, especially the military solution did not give any result. In Kurdistan region, we still support the political and negotiation solutions to solve this issue.”