Turkey claims to have killed more than 140 Kurdish guerrillas

According to the military statement, PKK militants carried out the bombings dropped from 17 to 28 August against its bases in the Turkish-Iraqi border and in the Kandil mountains between Iraq and Iran. Another hundred Kurdish guerrillas were wounded, according to information collected by the Turkish military on reconnaissance flights. For its part, the PKK only recognizes the death of two of its militants.

The bombing, the first in over a year, are a response to the offensive launched by the PKK in Turkey over the past two months, which has claimed the lives of half a hundred members of the security forces. The escalation of PKK attacks came after the general elections last June 12, which revalidated the mandate of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), moderate Islamist.

The crackdown has triggered tensions between Turkey and the semiautonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan. Local officials have accused the Turkish military have killed last week, seven civilians in a bombing, sparking protests and other citizens in Erbil city in Iraqi Kurdistan.

An advocacy group has demanded the closure of the Turkish military positions on Iraqi soil. Turkey has 1,300 troops in Iraq, divided into small observation posts established in the nineties with the permission of Baghdad. Far from announcing his retirement, the Army said yesterday that Turkey would continue to "closely the activities of the separatist terrorist organization in northern Iraq and at home, and air and ground operations will continue with determination."

Considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, the PKK took up arms in 1984 to assert the independence of more than 12 million Kurds living in Turkey and since then 45,000 people have died in war undeclared Kurdish rebels and Turkish security forces.

Besides Turkey, the Iranian authorities also tend to hit Iraqi PJAK camps, the brother of the PKK in Iran. A senior Iraqi Kurdistan, Nechirvan Barzani, yesterday asked the Kurdish rebels both Turkey and Iran lay down their arms.

A PKK spokesman said yesterday in Agence France Presse that the armed group stop "all military operations against the Turkish army" for three days, during the feast of Aid el Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan starts tomorrow.