Turkey approves Iraq incursion plan, allies anxious

By Hidir Goktas and Gareth Jones

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey's parliament resoundingly approved a motion on Wednesday allowing troops to cross into northern Iraq to hunt down Kurdish rebels there, but its Western allies and Baghdad urged Ankara to refrain from military action.

As parliament voted in Ankara by 507 votes to 19 in favor of the motion, U.S. President George W. Bush said it would not be in NATO member Turkey's interests to send troops into Iraq and the Pentagon said it did not think Ankara had the appetite for such a move.

Washington fears a Turkish incursion could destabilize the most peaceful part of Iraq and possibly the wider region by encouraging others such as arch-foe Iran to intervene.

Iraq's government said on Wednesday it would send a team to Ankara for further talks to find a peaceful solution to the crisis. NATO and the European Union also urged restraint.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has played down expectations of any imminent attack but the parliamentary vote gives NATO's second biggest army the legal basis to cross the mountainous border as and when it sees fit.

"What matters is what parliament has said," Erdogan told reporters as he left the assembly after the vote.

Erdogan is under heavy public pressure to act after a series of deadly attacks on its troops by the rebels of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), who use northern Iraq as a base.

Ankara's stance has helped propel global oil prices to record highs above $88 a barrel, though they eased on Wednesday.

Fearing possible rebel sabotage, Turkey has beefed up security for a major oil pipeline carrying Caspian crude from the Azeri capital Baku via Georgia to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, a senior energy ministry source told Reuters.

Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek told parliament any army incursion would target only the estimated 3,000 PKK rebels in Iraq. He said Turkey would also continue to use economic and diplomatic measures in its fight against terrorism.

KURDISH SEPARATISM

Opposition parties attacked U.S. policies in the region. They repeated Turkish fears the policies would lead to the creation of an independent Kurdish state which Ankara says could reignite separatism among its own ethnic Kurdish population.

Only the small pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) spoke against the motion, arguing that military action would worsen the economic plight of Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast.

Bush repeated U.S. concerns. "They (Turkey) have had troops stationed there for quite a while. We don't think it's in their interest to send more troops in," he told a news conference.

"I don't think there is any willingness or any urgency or desire to have to solve this through military action, through a cross-border incursion into that area," said Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell.