Thursday, 8 November, 2007 , 11:27 AFP — Clinging to a craggy mountaintop in southeast Turkey, Mardin is at the geographic heart of a region in the throes of violent conflict between the Turkish army and separatist Kurdish rebels.

Thursday, 8 November, 2007 , 10:22 AFP — The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) fears an imminent Turkish air strike on its bases in northern Iraq following US pledges to help Turkey combat the separatist group, a pro-PKK news agency reported Thursday.

Thursday, 8 November, 2007 , 09:19 AFP — Veterans of the Iraqi Kurds' long war against Saddam Hussein's regime on Thursday predicted defeat for the Turkish army if it attacks Kurdish rebels hiding in the rugged Qandil mountains bordering Iran, Iraq and Turkey.

Thursday, 8 November, 2007 , 07:58 AFP — Iranian security forces have killed three Kurdish rebels in the western province of Kordestan, the government daily Iran said on Thursday.

Wednesday, 7 November, 2007 , 20:31 AFP — Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday his country would relaunch its reform program as demanded by the European Union in assessing Ankara's progress toward possible membership.

Wednesday, 7 November, 2007 , 13:57 AFP — Iraq's Kurdish region's prime minister Nechirvan Barzani Wednesday urged Kurdish rebels to declare a ceasefire "and think of another solution" to achieving their goal of a Kurdish state.

Wednesday, 7 November, 2007 , 09:15 AFP — Iraq's Kurdish region has defiantly signed seven new foreign oil deals in a move sure to anger Baghdad, which opposes the unilateral sell-off of crude blocks in the absence of a national oil law.

Tuesday, 6 November, 2007 , 22:24 AFP — A Turkish soldier was killed Tuesday when separatist Kurdish rebels opened fire on a military outpost in the country's east, the Anatolia news agency reported.

Tuesday, 6 November, 2007 , 13:19 AFP — Turkey must avoid "any disproportionate action" in dealing with attacks by Kurdish rebels in Iraq, the European Commission urged Tuesday.

Tuesday, 6 November, 2007 , 13:06 AFP — A Kurdish rebel leader on Tuesday urged Turkey to negotiate with his Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), while Ankara stressed that military action against PKK bases in northern Iraq remained on the table.