Turkey Strikes Kurdish Bases in Northern Iraq
土耳其空袭伊拉克北部库工党基地
The Turkish air force launched a series of air strikes Saturday and early Sunday against bases of the Kurdistan Workers Party in northern Iraq. Turkish forces are intensifying their operations against the PKK rebels.
土耳其空军星期六和星期天清晨向伊拉克北部的库尔德工人党基地接连发动空袭。土耳其空军正在加强对库尔德工人党反政府分子的打击。
A military statement said 12 Kurdish rebel bases in northern Iraq were targeted by the Turkish air force early Sunday. It also said all its planes returned safely. The attacks centered on the Qandil mountains near the Iraqi-Iranian border.
一份军方声明说，土耳其空军星期天清晨袭击的目标是库尔德反政府组织在伊拉克北部的12个基地。声明还说，参加空袭的所有战机都安全返回。空袭行动的重点是靠近两伊边界的甘迪勒山区。
It is believed the region is the base for most of the leadership of the Kurdistan Workers Party, the PKK. A pro-Kurdish news agency confirmed the raid, saying it lasted two hours.
据信，这一地区是库尔德工人党领导层中大多数成员的所在地。一家亲库尔德人的新闻机构证实了这次空袭，说袭击持续了两个小时。
The same agency said the attack had caused panic among civilians. No figures were given for rebel or civilian casualties. But with strikes occurring in a mountainous sparely populated region, civilian causalities are rare.
这家新闻机构报导说，袭击行动在平民中造成惊慌。报导没有透露反政府份子或者平民的伤亡人数。不过，由于空袭的目标是人口稀少的山区，因此平民伤亡人数会很小。
Ankara accuses the PKK of using neighboring Northern Iraq as a base to launch strikes against its forces in Turkey.
安卡拉指责库尔德工人党把邻近的伊拉克北部做为基地，向土耳其军队发动袭击。
On Thursday, Turkey carried out air strikes on 13 suspected PKK targets in the Zap region of northern Iraq. Turkish forces in the past few months have launched numerous air strikes against rebel bases in the region.
星期四，土耳其向伊拉克北部扎普地区13处被怀疑是库尔德工人党的目标发动空袭。过去几个月里，土耳其军队向该地区叛军基地开展了无数次的空袭。
Earlier this year, Turkish soldiers entered Iraq in a week-long operation. Such operations against the PKK have been enhanced by U.S. intelligence information.
今年早些时候，土耳其军人进入伊拉克对库尔德工人党展开长达一个星期的军事行动。对库尔德工人党采取的这些军事行动由于美国的情报资讯而得到了增强。
Retired Turkish General Haldun Solmazturk says these attacks are part of a psychological war against the rebels.
土耳其退役将军索尔马兹土尔克说，这些打击行动是对反政府势力进行心理战的组成部分。
"It will achieve above all a psychological effect that will carry the message to the PKK that northern Iraq is not a safe haven and it can be reached by anytime by the Turkish state," he said.
索尔马兹土尔克说：“重要的是，打击行动将产生一种心理效应，向库尔德工人党传递这样一个信息，即，伊拉克北部不是安全的藏身之地，土耳其可以在任何时候对那里展开打击。”
Ankara claims to have killed more than 40 rebels in the past few weeks during intense fighting between Turkish forces and the PKK in southeast Turkey close to the Iraqi border. More than a dozen Turkish solders were also reported killed.
安卡拉称，过去几个星期中，土耳其军队在靠近伊拉克边界的土耳其东南部地区跟库尔德工人党发生的激烈战斗中打死了40多名反政府份子。据报导，有十多名土耳其军人也在战斗中阵亡。
Since 1984, the PKK has been fighting for self rule for predominantly Kurdish southeast of Turkey. Nearly 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict, the majority of whom were civilians. The PKK is designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department and the European Union.
Earlier this month three German mountaineers were kidnapped by the PKK in eastern Turkey, in protest of a crackdown by Berlin on its activities in Germany. The mountaineers were later released.
The Kurdish rebels are facing increasing pressure in Europe as well as in Turkey and Iraq, but Ankara is also facing international calls to pursue a political solution to the conflict.
