Turkey admits possible error in death of Kurds

Turkish fighters seeking suspected Kurdish rebels hidden in Iraq killed 35 civilians believed mistakenly were cigarette smugglers mostly, said yesterday a high official.

It has been one of the largest massacres of civilians in one day since the 27 Turkey years ago began an offensive against the militia Kurds seeking autonomy in the southeast of the country.

Huseyin Celik, spokesman for the ruling party of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said that the authorities still are trying to identify the dead, but that it is young people from a large family in the Iraq border area, populated mostly by Kurds.

"According to initial information these people were not terrorists but that were involved in smuggling," he said Celik.

All the victims were under 30 years old and some were children of guards of villages that have helped the Turks in their fight against the rebels, he added.

Celik u000ahe hinted that Turkey is ready to compensate victims. "If there was an error, if there was a failure, this will be no hidden, and it will do whatever is necessary," he added.

Hours earlier, the Turkish armed forces confirmed the operation on Wednesday night, and noted that its fighters attacked an area of North Iraq frequently used by rebels to enter Turkey after that unmanned aircraft detected a group approached the mountainous border, which often lack of indicators to define her.

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