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Turkey Says Troops Are Out

ANKARA, Turkey -- Turkey has pulled out most of its troops from northern Iraq, six weeks after 35,000 soldiers crossed the border to wipe out Kurdish rebel bases, officials said Thursday.


"We have no soldiers left in northern Iraq. We have withdrawn them all,'' Defense Minister Mehmet Golhan told reporters.


However, Deputy Prime Minister Hikmet Cetin's report of the situation contradicted Golhan's statement.


Cetin said a small number of soldiers were still inside northern Iraq. He did not say when the final soldiers would be pulled out.


The government pulled out 20,000 soldiers last week and Golhan said the second big withdrawal had occurred Wednesday.


The Turkish incursion into northern Iraq sparked expressions of concern among Turkey's allies and calls for a rapid withdrawal.

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