Turkey to press attacks against Kurds

Turkish officials say the cross-border fighting against the Kurdistan Workers' Party in Turkey and Iraq will go on until the militant group has been eliminated. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan made it clear Sunday that operations against the militant Kurdish group would persist, Today's Zaman reported. "[Some people say that] the state should cease operations. No, the state is obliged to carry out these operations for the peace of the nation and it is the natural right of the state to do so," Erdogan said. The Turkish military has been conducting air raids over Iraq in areas that are thought to be Kurdish Workers' Party headquarters since Aug. 17, in response to the killing of 30 Turkish soldiers last month by the militant Kurdish group, Hurriyet reported. The Kurdish Regional Administration says the conflict can only be solved through discussion and called for the end to the bombings. "It is no longer the time for violence or war. It is the time for peace and dialogue," said the administration in a statement.