Turkey Resists Gates on Ending Iraq Push

ANKARA, Turkey— Turkish leaders resisted calls by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates for a swift end to Turkey’s offensive against Kurdish guerrillas on Thursday, offering no timetable for withdrawing their troops from northern Iraq.

Mr. Gates came to the Turkish capital with a stern message that the Turkish winter offensive in the mountains of northern Iraq should wrap up within days. But after three hours of meetings with senior civilian and military leaders on Thursday, Mr. Gates said he had received no assurances on when the Turkish offensive would be over.

In fact, Turkey’s minister of defense, Vecdi Gonul, implied that because of “winter conditions,” the progress of the Turkish military campaign to destroy the infrastructure of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or P.K.K., could be slow.

Mr. Gates said he was still confident that Turkish leaders understood the principal concerns of Bush administration officials: that the offensive could be prolonged, bloody and — ultimately — ineffective.

“I think they got our message,” he told reporters after the meetings in Ankara.

The Turkish offensive has put the Bush administration in an awkward position. On one hand, it points up the weakness of Iraq’s government at a time when the Bush administration is spending billions of dollars annually to strengthen Iraq’s military and other institutions.

At the same time, the White House is open to charges of hypocrisy for criticizing the justification of a military invasion on the ground of preempting terrorist attacks.

During a news conference on Thursday, Mr. Gates was asked whether the Bush administration was using a double standard on the Turkish offensive.

Mr. Gates said that Turkish leaders should be communicating more closely with Iraq’s government, and noted that American operations against the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Pakistan were coordinated with Pakistan’s government.

The Central Intelligence Agency has launched a number of missile strikes inside Pakistan against senior Qaeda operatives. American officials occasionally notify Pakistani authorities just minutes ahead of time. Officials in Ankara told Mr. Gates that, with the help of detailed American satellite intelligence, the Turkish military is able to aim precisely at guerrilla camps that are far removed from civilian population centers.

The Bush administration has been providing Turkey’s military with satellite imagery and other intelligence to aid strikes against the P.K.K. since last year. Mr. Gates said that, during the talks on Thursday, he had not threatened to cut off the intelligence.

Turkey remains a critical NATO ally for the United States, but the war in Iraq has strained relations between the two countries from before the time American-led troops entered Iraq in March 2003.

Weeks before the invasion, Turkey’s government announced it would not allow the United States to send troops from Turkish territory into Iraq. That foiled war planning that called for the Army’s 4th Infantry Division to open a northern front for the assault on Baghdad.

Donald H. Rumsfeld, the defense secretary succeeded by Mr. Gates, later cited Turkey’s surprise decision — which limited the number of American forces in Baghdad after the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime — as a reason for the birth of the Iraqi insurgency.

Mr. Gates acknowledged Thursday that Kurdish guerrillas are a threat to Turkish security. The group has bases in Turkey and Iraq and have been fighting the Turkish military since the 1980s, and the United States lists it as a terrorist organization. But he said that he needed more information about the effectiveness of Turkey’s campaign before he could determine whether it was justified.

Mr. Gonul, the Turkish defense minister, said that Turkish troops were limiting operations to known terrorist training and infrastructure targets and intended to leave Iraq as soon as possible.

“We have no intention to occupy any area,” he said. “This is only a law-and-order action. That’s all.”

Turkey claims that over the past week it has killed more than 200 P.K.K. guerrillas. P.K.K. leaders have disputed that figure.

The Iraqi government has condemned the Turkish offensive as a violation of Iraqi sovereignty, and Iraqi officials fear that the campaign could damage the relative calm in northern Iraq.