Turkish troops leave Iraq

IRBIL, Iraq, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- Turkish troops who rolled about two miles into northern Iraq to engage Kurdish rebels Tuesday began to pull back to their side of the border, it was reported.

The Gulf Daily News said more than 500 Turkish troops had made forays into Iraq but were returning to their own territory.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which seeks a separate Kurdish state, is "threatening our national unity and we are using our rights stemming from international law against this terrorist organization." Turkish President Abdullah Gul stated his country has only one target in Iraq "and that is terrorism."

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said his country recognizes Turkey's "legitimate concerns" about the rebels, but Iraq complained it wasn't given advance notice of Turkish air strikes.

Last month, the Turkish Cabinet authorized cross-border attacks to root out members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, known as the PKK and designated by the U.S. State Department as a terror group. Turkey claims the group uses Iraq as a base to attack inside Turkey as it seeks to establish a Kurdish nation.

About 37,000 people have died in associated fighting since 1984, KUNA, the Kuwaiti news agency, said.