Iraq says it will cooperate with Turkey on kurds

A Turkish army helicopter flies over the mountains in the province of Sirnak, near the Turkish-Iraqi border, south-eastern Turkey. (AFP/Mustafa Ozer)

Turkish military action has continued for the past week along the Iraqi border as Turkey remains determined to root out Kurdish militants.

Turkey has amassed nearly 100,000 troops in the border area, backed by tanks, warplanes and combat helicopters. The build-up is in preparation for a possible large-scale incursion targeting about 3,000 Kurdish rebels who use the region as a base.

Turkish soldiers detect a landmine on a main highway in the south-eastern province of Hakkari.

The military says the mine was placed by Kurdish Workers' Party separatists known as the PKK.

Soldiers sealed off the area and called in de-mining experts who promptly detonated the mine.

Turkish F16 fighter jets and helicopters can be seen taking off and landing close to the border between Turkey and northern Iraq.

Iraq's foreign minister says his government is ready to cooperate.

Hoshyar Zebari, Iraqi FM, said, "The Iraqi government is ready to actively cooperate with Turkey and to seek practical measures to combat and prevent the PKK from jeopardizing Turkey and its interests."

Turkey's government is considering a series of economic sanctions to pressure the self-governing Kurdish administration in Iraq's north.

The region relies on food imports and Turkish investment in construction and also buys 10 percent of its electricity from Turkey.

Editor:Du Xiaodan