Turkey clarifies Iraq border rules

ISTANBUL - Clarifying its new rules on foreign access to Kurdish-run northern Iraq, Turkey said reporters permanently accredited in Turkey and all aid workers would be free to cross the border, writes Hugh Pope. Turkey insisted the measures were not designed to undermine the autonomous Iraqi Kurdish administration. 'The primary reason for the new regulations is the security of Turkey,' a spokesman said. Turkey had been concerned with foreign contacts with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), rebel Turkish Kurds with bases in Iraqi Kurdistan.