Parliament passes Kurdish draft

Turkey's parliament yesterday overwhelmingly approved a government request to allow troops to cross into northern Iraq to crush Kurdish rebels based there.

But the government appears willing to give more time to diplomatic pressure on the US-backed Iraqi administration.

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has played down expectations of an imminent offensive, but the parliamentary approval provides the legal basis for NATO's second biggest army to cross the mountainous border as and when it sees fit.