US says Turkey acting 'responsibly' in Iraq

The White House Tuesday reiterated calls for Turkey's cross-border offensive against Kurdish rebels in Iraq to be short, but declined to give a timeframe saying Ankara had acted responsibly so far.

"We do want it to be short-term, and we want it very narrowly targeted," said spokeswoman Dana Perino, referring to the Turkish military's incursion into northern Iraq to flush out Kurdish rebels.

But she added: "I'm not going to put a timeframe on it. Obviously, we support Turkey, and we support Iraq."

The government in Baghdad has denounced the operation as an "unacceptable" violation of its sovereignty.

"It's obviously a situation that none of us would choose to have, but it's one that the Turks, we believe, so far, have been fairly responsible in moving forward with this operation it's important that they continue to work with the Iraqis," Perino said. AFP