Turkey's Leader Backs Attack on Kurds

People clean debris and prepare to restart their normal life a day after a powerful explosion killed six people and injured more than 100 during a busy rush hour in Turkish capital of Ankara, Wednesday, May 23, 2007. Shopkeepers hung Turkish flags on their broken windows Wednesday to protest a bomb attack, as the government pondered new security measures at the start of tourist season.(AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici) (Burhan Ozbilici - AP)

ANKARA, Turkey -- The prime minister said he would back Turkey's generals if they decide to retaliate for a suicide bombing in the capital by striking Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged the United States to crack down on Kurdish separatists operating from Iraq, all but accusing the rebels of carrying out Tuesday's bombing.

"If the terrorist organization is based in northern Iraq, then the United States must fulfill its responsibility," Erdogan said, referring to the Kurdistan Workers Party, the rebel group known as the PKK.

While the United States also views the PKK as a terrorist organization, it opposes a crackdown on Kurdish militants in Iraq, fearing that would complicate efforts to restore stability in Iraq.

The PKK denied responsibility for the blast, which killed six people and wounded dozens at a busy shopping mall.

"We openly declare that we have no involvement and do not approve of this kind of act," PKK commanders said in a statement.

The rebels are fighting for autonomy in Turkey's Kurdish-dominated southeast, which borders northern Iraq. Turkey staged several incursions into Iraq in the early 1990s with as many as 50,000 troops. Each time, the rebels made a comeback after most of the Turkish soldiers withdrew.

The PKK accused the Turkish military of trying to win support from the United States and Iraqi Kurds for "a cross-border operation that the military has wanted to carry out for a long time."

The PKK has denied involvement in similar attacks in the past. In some cases, militants suspected of ties to the rebel group later claimed responsibility.

Private NTV television, quoting police officials, said the bomb was made of plastic explosives. The military says the PKK is smuggling hundreds of pounds of plastic explosives into the country from Iraq.

Gen. Yasar Buyukanit, chief of the military, stressed the need for a cross-border operation in April but it was not clear whether the military has sought government approval.

Erdogan said his government would support them if they do. "When necessary, this step would be taken, there would be no delay," the prime minister told private ATV television late Wednesday.

"It is out of the question for us to fall into a disagreement with our security forces, soldiers, on this issue," he said in response to question about where he stands on the subject.

Such action could burden the U.S. military with trying to resolve a conflict between two of its crucial partners, the Turks and the Iraqi Kurds. Washington has urged Turkish restraint.

Earlier Wednesday, Ankara Gov. Kemal Onal said the bomber had been identified as Guven Akkus, a 28-year-old from the Kurdish southeast who had spent time in prison for hanging illegal posters and resisting police. He did not say what kind of posters they were.

Officials said PKK rebels detonated a remote-controlled roadside bomb that killed six soldiers in a military vehicle in southeast Turkey, where large-scale military operations are ongoing against separatists. Ten soldiers were injured, the governor's office said. Earlier reports had said the military vehicle hit a land mine.

The Turkish military says up to 3,800 rebels are based across the border in Iraq and that up to 2,300 operate inside Turkey. The conflict has killed tens of thousands since the rebels took up arms in 1984.