US Defense Sec'y to discuss cross-border op in Ankara

Turkey must limit its military operations against the PKK in northern Iraq to days or a couple of weeks rather than months, said US Defense Secretary Robert Gates yesterday before beginning his visit to Ankara. Gates arrived in the capital to pay an official visit at the invitation of his counterpart Vecdi Gonul. President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan are set to receive Gates, and he will also meet separately with Gonul and Chief of General Staff Gen. Yasar Buyukanit. Their meetings are expected to focus on the duration and extent of the cross-border operation in northern Iraq, the results of the operation so far, and intelligence-sharing with the US.