Turkish troops are withdrawing from northern Iraq after a week-long cross-border chasing of rebels, a security source of Iraq's Kurdish region said on Friday.
Some Turkish troops have left northern Iraq, but there were still many inside the area, said the source who declined to be identified.
Mahmoud Othman, a Kurdish lawmaker, confirmed that the Turkish troops started withdrawing on Friday morning, but the troops have not pulled out completely due to bad weather.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari also reportedly said the Turkish force was pulling out.
Earlier, Turkey's NTV news channel said the mission to crush the banished Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) has accomplished and Turkish troops had begun to return.
NTV, one of Turkey's largest private television channel, reported that dozens of trucks ferried troops into the Turkish border town of Cukurca back from combat in neighboring Iraq's north.
However, the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces said in a statement on its website earlier in the day that it would issue an extensive press release shortly regarding the withdrawal.
On Feb. 21, some 10,000 Turkish troops crossed the Iraqi border and rolled 10 km inside to crack down on PKK rebels, who have long taken refuge in northern Iraq and used it as a launching-pad for attacks across the border as part of their campaign for self-rule in southeastern Turkey.
Iraq has voiced its grave concern over Turkey's cross-border action, saying it is a violation of Iraq's sovereignty.
The United States has been declining to condemn Turkish incursion into Iraq, saying that the outlawed PKK fighters are "a threat" to Turkey, Iraq and the United States.
U.S. pressure on Turkey to end the ground operation, however, mounted on Thursday when U.S. President George W. Bush said that Turkey should withdraw its troops from northern Iraq "as soon as possible."
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Bush said that Turkey's offensive against Kurdish separatists in northern Iraq should be limited and should end as soon as possible.
"It should not be long-lasting," Bush said, "The Turks need to move, move quickly, achieve their objective and get out."
Hours before Bush's remarks, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates also urged Turkey to keep its cross-border ground operation against PKK bases short and precisely targeted as possible during his visit to Turkey.
But Ankara on Thursday refused to commit itself to a pullout timetable.
Speaking at a joint press conference in Ankara with Gates Thursday, Turkish National Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul said that Turkish troops would remain in north of Iraq as long as necessary and they had no intention of staying in Iraq after the mission was accomplished.
The PKK, listed by the United States and Turkey as a terrorist group, took up arms against Turkey in 1984 with the aim of creating an ethnic homeland in southeastern Turkey. More than 30,000 people have been killed in the over-two-decade conflict.
Source: Xinhua
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