Arinc: there is no bad intention in incident on Iraqi border

ANKARA (A.A) – January 3, 2012 – Government spokesman and Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc has said that there was no bad intention regarding the incident on Iraqi border. However, we are working on the issue to see whether there was a negligence or weakness, added Arinc who spoke after the Council of Ministers meeting on Monday. Thirty-five people were killed and another was wounded when Turkish jets hit a group of people who were seen in an area across Turkey's border with Iraq last week. Noting that everybody was sorry about what happened along Turkey-Iraq border, Arinc said that however it should be remembered that the region was a place where cross-border operations were held. He added that terrorist attacks and gatherings were highly seen in that region. Arinc said that several channels confirmed the intelligence about an activity and existence of a group in the region, and unmanned aerial vehicles followed the activity, and then orders were given to stage an operation. He noted that the group was warned before the operation was launched, however, they continued on their way, thus, the region was bombed which caused the killing of citizens. Arinc strongly rejected the claims that the government, armed forces and security forces staged the operation on purpose. Regarding compensation, Arinc said that paying compensation to the relatives of victims was a legal issue, and the required procedures would be applied. 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 added 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. 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. Chief public prosecutor with special authority in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir launched a full investigation. Turkey's southeast is used by PKK terrorists to illegally sneak into Turkey to stage terrorist attacks. Since 1984, PKK's terrorist acts resulted in the death of more than 30,000 Turkish citizens, among whom were innocent civilians, teachers and other public servants, many deliberately murdered, and large amount of economic loss. In its history, the terrorist organization also employed suicide-bombing methods, waged mainly by women terrorists in Turkey; and kidnapped foreign tourists in southeastern Anatolia in the early 1990s. In order to damage Turkey's economy, the organization also set forests in Turkey's tourist resorts on fire. The PKK is designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the European Union and the United States.