President Gul defines incident on Iraqi border as unfortunate

ISTANBUL (A.A) - Turkish President Abdullah Gul said regarding the bombing incident along Turkish-Iraqi border that it was a very unfortunate incident. According to the information we have received, all of the people, who were killed in the bombing, were civilians, added Gul who spoke to reporters regarding Turkish planes' bombing of the Iraqi border, killing 35 citizens. 35 citizens were killed in a bombing by the jets of Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) in Sinat-Haftanin region in the north of Iraq which is near Uludere town of Turkey's southeastern province of Sirnak. Following the operation, a General Staff statement said Turkish military had raised its surveillance and controls across Turkey-Iraq border as it had received an intelligence that the terrorist organization was planning to attack military outposts after their recent losses. "Unmanned aerial vehicles found out that a group was approaching Turkish border from the north of Iraq on Wednesday evening, and Air Forces jets hit the targets between 9:37 and 10:24 p.m. as the group was seen in an area mostly used by terrorists," the statement said. The statement noted the incident occurred in Sinat-Haftanin region in the north of Iraq where the main camps of the terrorist organization were situated, and where there was no civilian settlement.  However, later, Deputy Chairman of the ruling Justice & Development (AK) Party Huseyin Celik said that the group hit by Turkish jets were not terrorists but smugglers. We all are sorry about the incident, said Gul, adding that an investigation would be made into the incident. Gul also offered condolences to the families of victims.