Turkish military won't talk with Iraq

ANKARA, Turkey, Oct. 26 (UPI) -- Turkey is threatening to launch a military campaign against separatist Kurdish militias in northern Iraq if it fails to resolve the issue through diplomacy.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan joined the Turkish army leadership in Ankara to discuss Iraqi proposes to avert a Turkish military incursion, the Kuwait news agency KUNA reported Friday. The Turkish news channel NTV said the army leaders had refused for two days to meet with an Iraqi delegation visiting Ankara because the delegation included Kurdish officials.

Babacan met with the Iraqi officials before going to Turkish military headquarters, NTV said.

Turkey has demanded that Iraq rein in Iraq-based members of the Kurdish separatist group known as the PKK who crossed the Iraqi-Turkish border and attacked troops inside Turkey. A dozen Turkish soldiers on patrol were killed in a PKK raid on Sunday.