Turkey 'will not intervene in Iraq for time being'

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul today said he saw no immediate need for Turkish troops to intervene in northern Iraq, apparently satisfied with United States assurances that Kurdish forces would pull out of two key northern Iraqi cities.

Turkey wants the United States to block Kurdish fighters from controlling the oil-rich northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk and the commercial hub of Mosul – moves which Ankara fears could inspire Kurdish rebels across the border in Turkey.