ANKARA (AFP)--The Turkish government will ask parliament to extend by one year its mandate to order military strikes against separatist Kurdish rebels based in northern Iraq, the deputy prime minister said Wednesday.
"We have decided to ask the parliament again for a one-year authorization" when lawmakers return from summer recess Oct. 1, Cemil Cicek, who is also the government spokesman, told reporters after a cabinet meeting.
The government won a one-year parliamentary authorization Oct. 17 last year for cross-border raids against Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, rebels, who use rear bases in northern Iraq for attacks on Turkish targets as part of its 24-year-long campaign for self-rule.