10-19-07, 4:01 am

Baghdad, Oct 18 (Prensa Latina) Hundreds of people in Arbil, the major city in the Iraqi Kurdistan, took to the streets on Thursday to protest authorization of the Turkish Parliament to conduct military operations in the Kurdistan Region in Iraq against the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK).

According to Aswat al Iraq news agency, demonstrators chanted slogans like 'to protect Kurdistan is a national duty,' in rejection of the military solution to the conflict with Turkey's authorities.

According to Ankara, the PKK separatists have bases in Iraq from where they attack the Turkish troops.

Protesters included students and workers from the Kurdistan community who gathered in front of the United Nations office in Arbil city, capital of the province with the same name.

Meanwhile, the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq (KRG) has expressed its concern about Turkey's decision and says that it seeks no conflict with its neighbouring country.

The KRG believes that violence solves no problem and supports a political process to achieve a comprehensive political solution to the problem of the PKK, which has lasted for 28 years.

A Turkish military attack on the Kurdistan Region of Iraq would make the situation worse, said the KRG.

From Prensa Latina