Turkey withdraws troops from northern Iraq

By Gareth Jones and Paul de Bendern

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey pulled its troops out of northern Iraq on Friday, ending a major offensive against Kurdish PKK rebels that Washington had feared might destabilize the wider region.

The withdrawal came a day after U.S President George W. Bush urged a swift end to the offensive. Turkey's armed forces General Staff denied any foreign influence on the decision.

"There was no question of completely liquidating the terrorist organization, but Turkey has shown the organization that northern Iraq is not a safe haven for them," the General Staff said in a statement.

Turkey, which has NATO's second biggest army, sent thousands of soldiers into mountainous northern Iraq on February 21 to crush rebels of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) who use the region as a base for attacks on Turkish territory.

The General Staff said it had killed 240 rebels and lost 27 soldiers during the eight-day offensive, waged in deep snow and subzero temperatures in tough mountainous terrain.

The PKK, which says it killed more than 130 Turkish troops but only five rebels had died, described the withdrawal as a victory. It was not possible to verify the figures.

"It was determined that the aims set at the start of the operation had been achieved... Our units returned to their bases (in Turkey) on the morning of February 29," the statement said.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan praised the operation.

"This offensive has struck an important blow against the terrorist organization at an unexpected time," he said, alluding to the fact that the army had acted before the end of winter.

Iraq and the United States both welcomed the withdrawal.

"It must be recognized that military power alone will not resolve this conflict," Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barhan Salih, a Kurd, told Reuters.

"The time has come to engage all political and diplomatic initiatives to pursue a resolution to the underlying causes for this conflict," he said.

A U.S. State Department spokesman said: "I think its a good thing to have this military operation wrapping up."

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, on a brief trip to Ankara on Thursday, had urged a short, well targeted campaign.

Washington, like Ankara and the EU, brands the PKK a terrorist organization, and has been supplying intelligence to the Turkish military on PKK activities in northern Iraq.