Iraqi leaders complained Monday that Turkey had not coordinated with Baghdad before sending warplanes to bomb Kurdish targets in northern Iraq. In Turkey, a U.S. Embassy official in Ankara said Washington was informed about the operation.
"It was a Turkish operation, it was a Turkish decision. We were informed," the official told The Associated Press. Iraq's Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said the Iraqi government thought Turkey would coordinate with it before striking the rebels from the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, inside Iraq on Sunday. He also indicated that the fact Iraqi civilians died showed Turkey had not hit the right target.
"What happened yesterday was based maybe on misinformation," Zebari said.
As many as 50 fighter jets were involved in the airstrikes, Turkish media reported.
The attack came a month after the U.S. promised to share intelligence with Turkey to help combat the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK and Turkey's military chief, Gen. Yasar Buyukanit, said U.S. intelligence was used Sunday. "America gave intelligence," Kanal D television quoted Buyukanit as saying. "But more importantly, America last night opened (the Iraqi) airspace to us. By opening the airspace, America gave its approval to this operation."
