Turkey and PKK exchange threats

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip warned that Anakara is running out of patience in relation to the safe haven that armed Turkish Kurd rebels enjoy in neighboring northern Iraq, as militants said they were ready to fight back should the Turkish army enter the region. "We have a certain degree of tolerance for the moment, but we cannot continue like this much longer," Erdogan told reporters accompanying him on a trip to Mongolia, the daily Hurriyet reported. "We must put the PKK problem behind us," Erdogan said. In response to the threats from Ankara a statement by the PKK's military wing said, "We are prepared for a possible attack. ... We will make it fail and turn (northern Iraq) into a quagmire for the forces that will carry it out." The PKK stateuent was published Wednesday on the Internet site of the Germany-based MHA news agency, which is close to the rebels and regularly publishes their statements. "Turkey can conduct such an operation in line with international rules," the Milliyet newspaper quoted Erdogan as saying. "No doubt, Turkey will do this after consulting the Iraqi authorities," he said. "But the time may come when it will do it without consulting. Why? Because this is an internationally recognized right." "While Turkey has been so open (in its support), the United States has yet to take the least action against PKK infiltration into Turkey, except for intelligence-related efforts," Erdogan said. The conflict has claimed some 37,000 lives since 1984 when the PKK took up arms for kurdish self-rule in southeast Turkey.Â