Counterattack
October 20, 2011
Turkish troops are on the ground in Iraq in pursuit of forces from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), an organization that claimed responsibility for a cordinated series of attacks earlier this week that killed 24 Turkish soldiers.
The Turkish military posted a statement on its website saying 22 battalions backed by airstrikes were operating in five areas on both sides of the Turkey-Iraq border.
The coordinated attack by the PKK in the early hours of Wednesday morning was one of the deadliest in the history of the insurgency, which began in 1984.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul vowed after the attacks that "our revenge will be great."
Iraq pledges support
On Thursday, Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan attended the funeral of one of the soldiers killed in the attacks as the counterattack got underway in the mountainous region of northern Iraq.
The Iraqi foreign ministry issued a statement on Thursday expressing its sympathy for the families of the killed Turkish soldiers while condemning the attack.
"[Iraq] is committed to collaborate with the Turkish government on security issues to prevent a repeat of such actions," the statement read.
This is not the first time Turkey has sent troops into Iraq in pursuit of the PKK. In 2008, about 10,000 troops entered Iraq as part of a full-scale incursion.
Author: Matt Zuvela (Reuters, AFP, dpa)
Editor: Mark Hallam