Kurdish Guerrillas Raid Village, Killing Seven, Turkish Official Says Raid Takes Place During Dispute Over Turk Invasion Of North Iraq

Kurdish guerrillas raided a Turkish village near the Syrian border and killed seven people, the regional governor said Thursday.

The raid late Wednesday on the mountain village in Turkey’s Hatay province was the first in the region by Kurdish guerrillas, who normally launch their cross-border raids from areas closer to Iraq.

About 35,000 Turkish troops poured into northern Iraq on March 20 to try to rout camps used by the guerrillas for hit-and-run attacks inside Turkey.

The guerrillas, who belong to the Kurdistan Workers Party, PKK, have been fighting for autonomy in southeastern Turkey since 1984.

During the raid, the Kurdish rebels abducted eight men, said Hatay province Gov. Utku Acun.

They shot and killed seven of the men. The eighth was wounded but survived, Acun said.

At Turkish prodding, Syria has restricted the Kurds’ activities in its territory and closed down a PKK camp in the Syrian-controlled Bekka Valley in Lebanon.

PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan still lives in Syria, however.

Western countries have pressured Turkey to pull its troops out of northern Iraq, an area outside Baghdad’s control that has been protected by a Western air force since the Gulf War.

Iraq on Thursday renewed its demand that Turkey immediately withdraw its armed forces and “put an end to using Turkish territory as a base for American-British aggression against Iraq’s sovereignty, security and territorial integrity.”

Prime Minister Tansu Ciller reiterated that the troops would not leave until the border is secure.

Meanwhile, in Washington, Turkish Foreign Minister Erdal Inonu told reporters Turkey has not yet set a withdrawal date, “but it is a matter of weeks.,”