Turkey, Ankara / Тrend corr A. Alaskarov / The situation in Turkey's south-east and contiguous North Iraq will be in the focus of the Turkish National Defence Council's meeting scheduled for 24 October (NDC). The newly elected Turkish President Abdullah Gul will preside over the meeting for the first time. According to SNN-Turk, besides the President, the meeting will be attended by a range of Ministers and new commanders of different troops.
The situation at the border with Iraq, which is the key issue, as well as concrete military measures and the time for anti-terror operations, is expected to be discussed at the meeting. Official Ankara states that it intends to invade into the contiguous Iraqi territory to put an end to key bases of the Kurdish Labour Party (PPK). Iraqi and U.S. authorities resolutely object that. Turkish Parliament passed a draft law allowing Turkish Armed Forces to conduct a trans-border military operation at any suitable time within a year.
Turkish media report that a military group including 60,000 was deployed at the border with Iraq. It is conducting large-scale operations in order to prevent PPK militants from penetrating into Turkey from North Iraq. According to reports, the number of Kurdish separatists in the contiguous area varies between 3,000 and 3,500. The longstanding conflict between Turkey and PPK resulted in death of over 37,000 Turkish citizens.
Turkish NDC's new Secretary General, Turkish Ambassador to Greece, Tahsin Burjuoglu, will officially take up his duties on 1 November after he abdicates from his diplomatic mission in the Athens.