Turkey and Iran unite to fight Kurdish rebels

Turkey and Iran said yesterday they would collaborate in their fight against Kurdish rebels, as thousands of Turkish troops continued an air and ground offensive against militants in northern Iraq for a third day.

The foreign ministers of Iran and Turkey announced plans to co-operate against rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, and its Iranian wing, the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan, or PJAK, at a news conference in Ankara.

Both Kurdish organisations, branded terrorists by the US, want Kurdish autonomy in their respective countries. "Our joint determination to struggle against the PKK and the PJAK will continue in the strongest way," said the Turkish Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu.