msnbc
ISTANBUL, Turkey - The Turkish army entered northern Iraq on Saturday, the army said.
The army operation came a day after Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said his cabinet had authorized the armed forces to conduct a cross-border operation against Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels.
more soon as this story updates
update: link added
updatge: msnbc adds more
Reuters reported that the army entered northern Iraq, but an Associated Press report said the army Web site did not say whether Turkish troops actually crossed the border.
A spokesman for Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani said there had been no incursion by Turkish troops into the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region of northern Iraq.
so reuters says they went in AP is being vague as is BBC
The iraqi kurds say no incursion but
"An intense intervention was made on the group and it was detected that the terrorist group had suffered heavy casualties."
and
Turkey has amassed up to 100,000 troops near the mountainous border, backed up by tanks, artillery and warplanes, for a possible strike into mainly Kurdish northern Iraq against rebels of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) hiding there.
Ankara has made many threats of military action but, under heavy U.S. pressure, has so far shown restraint. Washington fears a large-scale operation could destabilize the most stable part of Iraq and possibly the wider region.
Gee bush is afraid a military invasion could destabilize a region?
Turkey's parliament approved a resolution on Oct. 17 giving the government the legal basis to order cross-border military operations if and when it deemed them necessary.
The resolution, approved by an overwhelming majority of lawmakers, followed a series of deadly PKK attacks on Turkish security forces that fanned an angry wave of nationalism across Turkey, a NATO member that also wants to join the EU.
That resolution was valid for one year. The cabinet decision this week effectively freed up the generals to act as they saw necessary without seeking further political approval.
if not now soon