European Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn stated on Friday that there is no evidence on the claims that Turkey is launching a cross-border operation in to northern Iraq to hunt down terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants.

In his response to a question from Glyn Ford, Britain's Socialist member of the European Parliament, Rehn stated that the Iraqi and Turkish authorities also denied the news reports about the Turkish cross-border operation.

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül, meanwhile stated on late Thursday that it is wrong to expect everything from the special envoys to counter the PKK, adding, Special envoys are doing their best and our expectations from them are also definite.

Touching on the latest visit of U.S. Special Envoy to counter the PKK Gen. Joseph Ralston to Ankara, Gül said, Turkey expects a lot of things from the U.S. concerning the fight against the PKK. All the U.S. authorities, especially President George W. Bush, are aware of this reality.

Stressing that the U.S. should fight against the terrorist PKK while fighting against the other terrorist groups, Gül stated it is for that reason Turkey's expectations from Washington have increased.

ANKARA-Turkish Daily News