Turkish Officials Say Troops Enter Iraq

Friends and relatives of Turkish soldier Emrah Kayadelen, wearing letters that read: "We condemn", chant nationalist slogans during his funeral ceremony in Istanbul, Turkey, Wednesday, June 6, 2007. In one of the bloodiest attacks this year, Kurdish rebels raided Monday a military outpost in Tunceli province in southeastern Turkey, killing seven Turkish troops and wounding seven others. (AP Photo/Serkan Senturk) (Serkan Senturk - AP)

ANKARA, Turkey -- Hundreds of Turkish soldiers crossed into northern Iraq on Wednesday pursuing Kurdish guerrillas who stage attacks on Turkey from hideouts there, Turkish security officials and an Iraqi Kurd official said.

The reports came amid worries Turkey might launch an offensive against the rebel bases, touching off a conflict with U.S.-backed Iraqi Kurds in one of Iraq's most stable regions. The U.S. is urging its NATO ally not to strike, and Turkey's foreign minister denied any incursion occurred.

An American intelligence official in Washington, who agreed to discuss the tense situation along the frontier only if not quoted by name, said the reports of a border crossing should be treated with skepticism.

The official said some Turkish officials might be feeling pressure to show increasingly angry Turks that the government is responding to a recent escalation of attacks by PKK rebels, who are fighting for autonomy in Turkey's heavily Kurdish southeast. On Monday, for instance, Kurdish rebels assaulted a Turkish outpost and killed seven soldiers.

Three Turkish security officials said troops crossed the border Wednesday. But they described the operation as just a "hot pursuit" raid that was limited in scope, and one said the soldiers left Iraqi territory by the end of the day.

The officials, all based in southeastern Turkey, spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to journalists.

Turkish authorities rarely acknowledge such military operations against the PKK, but the army has conducted brief raids across the border in the past.

Despite the dispute over whether an incursion happened, the reports were likely to heighten anxieties over whether Turkey is planning a large-scale invasion. The last such operation was in 1997 and involved 50,000 soldiers.

Turkish leaders have said they are considering an offensive, and have sent more troops and equipment to the frontier. But they hope the U.S. and Iraqi Kurds will stage their own crackdown on the separatists, who raid southeast Turkey after resting, training and resupplying in Iraq.

Washington lists the PKK as a terror group, but most U.S. troops in Iraq are busy dealing with violence elsewhere and most of the 16,500 U.S. soldiers in the north are engaged in training Iraqi forces.

The Iraqi Kurd administration, meanwhile, has testy relations with Turkey, which has accused it of backing the PKK movement.

One Turkish security official said 600 commandos entered Iraq before dawn after Kurdish rebels shot at Turkish patrols near the Turkish border town of Cukurca. The commandos returned to Turkey later in the day, the official said.