Turkey says buffer zone in Iraq to be assessed, to be formed if necessary

Erdogan told a joint press conference with Czech Prime Minister Marek Topolanek that they would assess with the military, the recent suggestion of the opposition parties for the creation of a buffer zone in the north of Iraq.

The Turkey-Iraqi border is enormously long, Erdogan said, not ruling out the buffer zone option, while accusing opposition parties of not knowing the terrain along the border.

"The Turkish Armed Forces, which is assigned with this task (fighting terrorists) can make the best assessment on the issue: on which spots can buffer zones be created, or whether it is possible to create a buffer zone along the entire border," said Erdogan.

Erdogan said if they deemed necessary and useful in preventing terrorists’ attacks, they would not hesitate to take a decision to form a buffer zone.

Turkey has pledged to intensify its campaign to crush the outlawed PKK and war jets have been carrying out continuous operations inside the country’s borders, as well as in northern Iraq after an attack on a military outpost killed 17 soldiers and injured 20 others on Friday.

The Turkish army had launched an eight-day long cross-border operation in February and neutralized hundreds of PKK terrorists.