The government has plans to launch a new strategy in the fight against terrorism. Under the new plan, only professional teams will fight terrorists and a temporary security zone in northern Iraq may be set up along the Iraqi border.

Turkey's search for a new strategy to fight terrorists of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the Southeast has taken a decisive turn following an attack at the Aktütün military outpost in Hakkari last Friday in which 15 soldiers were slain. PM Tayyip Erdoğan announced on Saturday that Turkey will implement a new strategy, without giving any further details.

Prime Minister Erdoğan immediately called a meeting of the Higher Counterterrorism Board (TMYK) after Friday's attack and consulted with top representatives from Turkey's security forces. Yesterday he met with some of his Cabinet ministers to lay out the structure of the new strategy, which will be finalized at the next TMYK meeting, scheduled for Thursday.

The key feature of the new strategy, according to a senior security official who asked not to be identified, is having professional troops conduct operations against terrorist organizations. The idea of establishing a professional army, first proposed in June 2007 by then-Land Forces Commander Gen. İlker Başbuğ, will become a reality under the new plan, the same source said. A new special force, initially of 7,000 privates from gendarmerie operation battalions and ranger brigades, will be deployed in the region as soon as possible. In the following year, an additional 8,000 will be recruited to the new force. The recruitment process will be on a voluntary basis. The minimum salary will be $2,000. In other words, no longer will unprofessional soldiers deployed in the region after a short period of basic military training be conducting military campaigns against terrorism. Conscription soldiers will be acting in the background as supporting units. The professional units will be deployed along Turkey's eastern frontiers, from the Armenian border to the Syrian border.

A special operation command already established under the National Police Department will be fortified to protect against potential urban terrorist attacks. Another possibility, according to the same source, is that governors of the provinces hit worst by terrorism will be granted special authorities to allow garrison commanders to conduct operations against terrorists at any time. However, the government is not warm to the idea, which is reminiscent of the Emergency Rule Regions (OHAL), areas placed under martial law in Turkey's Southeast that remained so well into the beginning of the 2000s. The military is also demanding certain temporary amendments to restrictions established in the Criminal Procedures Law. Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Şahin is expected to brief Prime Minister Erdoğan on the military's demands. The government is determined not to step back from the democratizing reforms Turkey has made during the European Union harmonization process.

One of Turkey's greatest concerns in fighting terrorism is PKK camps located in the Zap, Avashin, Hakurk and Basyan regions of northern Iraq. The government is set to ask northern Iraq to set up temporary security zones in these areas, where the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) will be in charge of ensuring security. President Abdullah Gül is expected to take up the issue very soon with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.

According to this plan, which heavily relies on Iraq's consent, Turkish troops will provide security across an area extending 40 kilometers into northern Iraq from the southeastern province of Hakkari. Large military outposts will be set up along the border, protected by large steel barriers, not unlike the NATO missions' posts in Afghanistan. The government is also determined to deal with European countries, which have been inactive over the sale of arms to the PKK, which usually gets its weapons from Europe.

The TMYK determined that a delay in the delivery of Heron unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) ordered from Israel has also caused difficulties in obtaining intelligence in northern Iraq. Turkey will work to speed up the delivery process to ensure enhanced intelligence gathering in the region.