Turkish warplanes hit 28 PKK targets in N. Iraq

Turkish warplanes bombed 28 targets of the banned Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) in northern Iraq on Thursday night for the second day, the General Staff of the Armed forces said in a statement posted on its web-site on Friday. The operation targeted only the PKK, and the necessary attention was paid to avoid any harm to civilian people in the region, the statement said. Turkish artillery also hit 96 targets in Qandil Mountain, Zap, Avashin-Bashyan and Kharkurk regions, it said, adding Turkish military's similar operations both in Turkey and abroad would continue with a great determination. On Wednesday, the PKK attacked a military convoy at Cukurca town in the southeastern province of Hakkari, leaving eight Turkish soldiers and one village guard dead and 15 soldiers wounded. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul vowed retaliation against the PKK. "Heinous attacks of the terrorist organization will be given the harshest response. The fight against terrorism will continue resolutely without giving any concessions from democracy and the rule of law," the National Security Council said in a statement issued after the four-and-a-half hour meeting chaired by Gul on Thursday. The PKK has intensified its attacks on Turkish troops recently and Turkish officials have vowed to retaliate with absolute determination. Listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, the PKK took up arms in 1984 to create an ethnic homeland in southeastern Turkey. More than 40,000 people have been killed in conflicts involving the PKK during the past over two decades.