ANKARA, Turkey, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- Ankara submitted plans to Turkish lawmakers asking for permission to launch military strikes against Kurdish militants in northern Iraq, the government said.
The mandate submitted by the ruling Justice and Development Party seeks approval to launch cross-border raids to strike the strongholds of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, in northern Iraq.
"Turkey is successfully continuing to execute its military activities along with political and diplomatic moves to end the existence and terrorist activities of PKK terrorists in northern Iraq," Turkey's daily newspaper Hurriyet quotes the measure as reading.
U.S. military officials supplied Ankara with sensitive intelligence about the PKK in northern Iraq. The Turkish military launched a series of offensives against the PKK starting in 2007.
Parliament has approved a cross-border mandate twice since formal permission was granted in 2007.
The current mandate permitting military operations in Iraq expires Oct. 17.
The PKK launched its campaign from the border regions of Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran in 1984. Ankara tried to deal with the PKK issue through diplomatic aims last year, though the effort fizzled after a court dissolved a pro-Kurdish party for its ties to the Kurdish militant group.
