Turkey gave the United States and Iraqi authorities advance notice of its incursion across the border into Iraq in pursuit of separatist Kurdish rebels, White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said today.
"We were notified and we urged the Turkish government to limit their operations to precise targeting of the PKK - to limit the scope and duration of their operations - and we urged them to work, directly, with Iraqis, including Kurdish government officials, on how best to address the threat," Stanzel told reporters.
The separatist Kurdish Workers Party is known as the PKK.
Stanzel said there is a continuing dialogue between the Iraqis and leaders in Turkey, and the US works cooperatively with both nations on how to best confront the threat of the PKK.
"This is something that we were aware of in advance," he said. "And, as you know, the US agrees with Turkey that the PKK is a terrorist organization and is an enemy of Turkey, Iraq and the United States, and we have demanded that the PKK end their attacks on Turkish soldiers."
Stanzel stopped short of saying the United States played any role in coordinating details of the incursion.
"We were notified in advance," he said. "As a Nato ally, we have a long-standing intelligence-sharing arrangement with Turkey."
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said the United States remains ready to provide Turkey with intelligence information that could be useful in targeting the PKK, which the United States regards as a terrorist organization.
"But we believe that the long-term solution is one of diplomacy and not a military solution here," Whitman said. "But as they (the Turks) take these defensive measures, they have been urged, as I said, to limit their operations to precise targeting of the PKK and to bring a swift conclusion to any military operations."
The PKK militants are fighting for autonomy in southeast Turkey and have carried out attacks on Turkish targets from bases in a semiautonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq. Turkey's military said its ground operation started after Turkish warplanes and artillery bombed suspected rebel targets on Thursday.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the US was advising Turkey to conclude its military operation as quickly as possible and confine it to PKK targets.
He said the Turkish government planned and executed the operation on its own.
"Our intention is not to be in the middle of it, our intention is to bring the Turkish and Iraqi governments together," McCormack said.
He said the US has made good progress in getting the two governments talking to each other and cooperating.