Tensions remained high on the Turkish-Iraqi border on Friday, with the latest developments indicating that the Turkish military is pressing the government to undertake a more aggressive campaign against PKK rebel camps in Kurdistan.

During Wednesday's crisis, when confusing news seemed to indicate Turkish troops had invaded Iraq, some reporting indicated that the military had already requested permission to launch a massive cross-border operation, though official government statements the same day made clear that parliamentary approval had not been granted and would be legally required.

Speaking to reporters Thursday about Turkish military activity along the border with northern Iraq, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, "These things all have a certain procedure. We will take whatever steps are necessary at the right time."

"If there are to be over-the-border operation steps taken, we will first enter into talks with our security forces, and then it will be carried to the Parliament. If a request comes from the armed forces, we will not stand in front of them. What the time comes, we will do what is needed."

Erdogan said he would not stand in the way if a request came in from the military, so it didn't take long for the General Staff to post a lengthy statement on their Website making the case for "mass resistance" against PKK attacks.

Statement Released by Turkish General Staff

1. In a press conference on April 12, 2007, General Yasar Buyukanit explained clearly and publicly that terror would increase from May 2007 onwards, and the events in recent days have shown these statements to be correct.

2. These terror events have very clearly demonstrated the real intentions of this separationist and racist terror organization.

3. The time has come for various people and institutions both at home and abroad to see the real face of this terror group.

4. What the Turkish Republic now faces is a stance which believes that a nation and united structure is somehow anachronistic. Our nation must become aware of the dangers in this stance.

5. The terror incidents which have emerged are also a clear demonstration of this striking stance, and of those who support this stance indirectly and directly.

6. The Turkish Armed Forces are in possession of an unshakeable determination to struggle against terror, and it is an undebatable fact that the Turkish Armed Forces will issue the necessary response to these types of attacks.

7. The expectation of the Turkish Armed Forces is that the great Turkish nation will offer a mass resistance to these types of terror incidents.

We inform the public of the above with respect.

The Turkish Parliament would have to be specially reconvened to consider a military request for authorization to invade northern Iraq, something experts consider unlikely in advance of the July 22 elections. But if the Turkish military continues losing troops to PKK IEDs, their patience may not endure.

Casualties on the Border

On Friday, four Turkish soldiers were killed near the border. According to the Associated Press, the roadside bomb targeted a Turkish military vehicle near Siirt, a city 45 miles north of the Iraq border, the governor's office said. The attack killed four soldiers and wounded five other security personnel, including pro-government village guards.

Turkey's private Dogan news agency said gunfire was heard for about 45 minutes toward midnight Thursday in the Turkish border town of Cukurca, and that Iraqi Kurds claimed Turkish shells were fired at Kurdish rebel camps in northern Iraq, along the Hezil river and near the town of Derkar.

Dogan quoted Turkish military officials as denying the allegation, and saying their activity was only a drill.

Hurriyet newspaper reported heavy artillery sounds outside the southeastern Turkish city of Hakkari last night near midnight, with Turkish Armed Forces General Staff members confirming that PKK enforcements in northern Iraq were being targeted by the Turkish military.

"Areas near the villages of Dasht Dakh, Barkh Siyara, Kashan and Mula Khamtiry of Zakho district came, late last night, under Turkish artillery shelling and machine-gun fire for almost two hours, setting villagers into a panic, but no casualties resulted," Mohammed Saleh, 52, from the nearby Darkar village told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).

Luqman Keisti, 28-years old from Keista village near the Turkish border, told VOI "areas near the villages of Keista, Karah, Bitkar and Spindar came under heavy bombardment last night from the Turkish artillery."

Security Zones

The Turkish Army has created three temporary security zones in the southeast, which are to remain in effect from June 9 to September 9 as part of the campaign against Kurdish separatists.

Reuters reports that some Turkish media say the areas would be closed to civilian plane flights, but others said additional security measures would be implemented in the zones and entry would be restricted. One source close to the military said Thursday the checkpoints would control access to the zones, where civilians would be barred from entering and the air space would be closed to civilian traffic.

The zones, whose coordinates were revealed on the General Staff Web site, cover uninhabited mountainous regions in the Siirt, Sirnak and Hakkari provinces, close to Turkey's borders with Iraq.

Some Turkish officials have said that if troops stage a major incursion into Iraq, they might set up a buffer zone inside Iraq to try to stop rebel infiltration.

Market Impact

Oil prices had steadied at $71 a barrel on Thursday, near a nine-month high, after a raid by Turkish troops into northern Iraq revived worries over exports from the Middle East, which pumps a quarter of the world's oil. According to Reuters, the military's latest statement helped knock Turkey's lira currency about 1 percent lower on Friday. Turkish stocks also fell.

NATO

NATO Secretary General Jaap De Hoop Scheffer will meet the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, army chief Yasar Buyukanit and Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul in Ankara next week, ostensibly to discuss the upcoming NATO defense minister gathering.