ANKARA, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- Turkish military underlined late Saturday that its operations targeted only the rebels of the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK).

    Turkish General Staff said in a latest statement that the military operations "are not against people living in northern Iraq nor against local groups unless they commit an act of enmity against the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK)."

    Earlier in the day, the General Staff said in another statement that Turkish security forces took a military operation in fight against a group of PKK members at Turkish-Iraqi border.

    "Upon intelligence on Dec. 1, a group of 50-60 terrorists were detected inside Iraqi territory in southeast of Cukurca town of southeastern province of Hakkari," the statement said.

    The military units fired on PKK members, inflicting significant losses on them, it said, adding that the operations would continue with the collaboration of other components, if necessary.

    On Friday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said after meeting with the Chief Judge of the Constitutional Court Hasim Kilic that the TSK was authorized for cross-border operation against the PKK as of Nov. 28, 2007.

    "We have taken the decision on Nov. 28 and with the approval of the president, as of now TSK has been authorized for a cross-border operation," Erdogan said.

    On Oct. 17, the Turkish parliament approved a resolution giving the government the legal basis to order cross-border military operations into Iraq if and when it deemed them necessary.

    Turkey has massed up to 100,000 troops at Turkish-Iraqi borders in preparations for a possible cross-border operation to crush about 3,000-strong PKK rebels. Security operations are underway in southeastern and eastern Turkey.

    The PKK, listed by the United States and Turkey as a terrorist group, took up arms against Turkey in 1984 with the aim of creating an ethnic homeland in the southeast. More than 30,000people have been killed in the over-two-decade conflict.