Erdogan: U.S. should fight Kurdish PKK

ANKARA, Turkey, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- Turkey has more justification to invade Iraqi Kurdistan than the United States had to invade Iraq, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday.

The Turkish prime minister, on an official visit to Romania, urged the Bush administration to assist Turkey in quelling the Kurdistan Workers Party or PKK, The New York Times reported.

"We have a disturbance, what kind of disturbance did the United States have with Iraq? Right now, the United States, as our strategic ally, is in a position to act along with us," Erdogan said. "We acted along with them in Afghanistan."

In a raid Sunday, PKK fighters attacked a Turkish military unit, killing 12 soldiers. Eight others were missing Thursday. Since then, Turkey has bombed mountain passes and used heavy artillery against reported Kurdish bases.

Turkish officials say troops may have crossed the border and planes may have entered Iraqi airspace in the rugged, sparely inhabited area where the PKK is based.