Turkey Withdraws Military Monitors From Northern Iraq

4 July 2004 -- Turkey is withdrawing a small number of military monitors from northern Iraq, where they have been stationed since 1997 to monitor a ceasefire between Kurdish groups, according to reports from AFP and AP.

The news agencies cited an anonymous Turkish diplomat as the source of the information.

The unit was deployed as part of a cease-fire agreement between the two main Kurdish factions controlling the region, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). The deal was brokered by Britain, Turkey and the United States.

Turkey keeps several thousand other troops in northern Iraq against perceived threats from separatist Turkish Kurd rebels. Those soldiers are expected to remain in place.

(AFP/AP)