ANKARA - Turkey's top general said Thursday the military was ready to stage a cross-border offensive to fight Kurdish terrorists in Iraq and that he already had sought government approval to mount military action.
Earlier Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has pledged his support for any military decision to stage an incursion into Iraq, said the army had not yet asked parliament for permission.
But Gen. Yasar Buyukanit said he had asked for approval during a news conference on April 12, when he said "an operation into Iraq is necessary."
"We have told both Turkey and the world on April 12 that as soldiers, we are ready," Buyukanit said Thursday.
Buyukanit's remarks appeared to put Erdogan's government under pressure to seek approval from parliament to send soldiers into Iraq to fight separatist Kurdish terrorists. The rebels have long used northern Iraq as a base in their campaign for self-rule in southeast Turkey.
The United States opposes any unilateral Turkish military action, fearing it could destabilize northern Iraq - the calmest part of the country.
Massoud Barzani, the leader of the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq, also strongly opposes a Turkish incursion and has threatened to confront Turkish soldiers if they enter northern Iraq.
Military trucks hauled more tanks and guns to the border area Thursday, local reporters said. For weeks, TV stations have broadcast images of military trucks rumbling along the remote border, and trains transferring tanks and guns to bolster an already formidable force in the area.
The U.S. State Department said Wednesday that it has seen nothing to substantiate reports of a significant movement of Turkish military forces to the border.
Buyukanit said the government needed to define the political targets of such an operation, referring to Barzani.
"Political authorities will determine the targets," Buyukanit said.
"Are we going to struggle with the PKK once we enter there or do something with Barzani too?" he said, referring to the main Kurdish terrorist group.
Turkey fears Iraqi Kurds could establish a Kurdish state that would inspire the terrorists and revive the fighting. Turkey also is concerned that Iraqi Kurds' efforts to incorporate the oil center of Kirkuk into their self-governing region in northern Iraq could embolden the rebels.
Buyukanit complained about what he said was a lack of help from allies in fighting the Kurdish terrorists.
It is obvious that Turkey does not receive the necessary support in its fight against terrorism," Buyukanit said at an international security conference in Istanbul.
Earlier this week, Erdogan urged the United States and Iraq to destroy PKK bases in northern Iraq. And the military has said Europe was not doing enough to limit the activities of fundraisers and other PKK sympathizers.
Past cross-border operations have yielded mixed results, with many guerrillas sheltering in hide-outs and emerging to fight again once the bulk of Turkish units withdrew from Iraq.
A government official, who insisted on anonymity because he was not authorized to address the media, said the military could set up a buffer zone in northern Iraq to block Kurdish terrorists from entering Turkey.
Turkey set up such a zone along the 200-mile border in 1997 but gradually withdrew the bulk of its troops under international pressure, leaving about 1,000 inside Iraq. Those troops act as monitors, but have not pursued the terrorists.
"To set up a buffer zone, Turkey needs to secure the consent of both Washington and the Iraqi Kurds," said Nihat Ali Ozcan of the Economic Policy Research Institute in Ankara. "However, the military buildup clearly puts more pressure on U.S. and Iraqi forces to do something quickly."
Turkish intelligence reports said Iraqi Kurdish groups were preparing defenses on their side of the border, apparently in case of any Turkish incursion.
The Turkish military says up to 3,800 terrorists are now based in Iraq, and up to 2,300 operate inside Turkey. Turkish troops, reinforced by planes and helicopter gunships, have killed 14 PKK terrorists in operations near the border since Monday.