A major U.S. newspaper is reporting that Turkey plans to invest up to $12 billion in its mainly Kurdish southeast region in hopes of hurting support for Kurdish rebels.

Turkish fighter jets and artillery continue to pound northern Iraq Monday as Turkish troops battle Kurdish rebels in the mountainous border region.

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the Turkish government has authorized the army to carry out a cross-border operation against Kurdish rebels based in northern Iraq.

Kurdish rebels who had been fighting for autonomy in northern Iraq have returned to their homeland in two weeks and Iranian separatists have taken their place, according to words of the brother of the rebel group's jailed leader.

The Turkish Justice Ministry said Thursday that Germany has extradited two Kurds wanted in Ankara.

Eleven members of a small Kurdish separatist group were detained by Iranian security forces fro cooperating with the country’s Kurdish rebels.

Turkish troops continue to hold their positions across from Iraq's northern border. Villagers on the Iraqi side are concerned they could be caught in the shelling if the Turkish military targets Kurdish rebels who have been conducting raids into Turkey. A number of those villagers are Christians who had fled the violence in Baghdad.

Turkey is still massing tens of thousands soldiers on the Iraqi border, a response to a series of attacks by Kurdish militants that have claimed the lives of more than 50 soldiers and civilians. Rebels of the Kurdistan Workers Party or PKK, many based in northern Iraq, have been fighting Turkey for autonomy for more than 20 years.

Turkish media say the prosecutor's office has started a legal process to shut the country's main pro-Kurdish political party, alleging it has ties to Kurdish rebels.

The Turkish army is to launch a cross-border operation against Kurdish militants in northern Iraq before 'weather conditions worsen,' local media quoted the Turkish president as saying on Wednesday.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his government is still planning to take military action against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq.

Turkey's president called on the United States to engage more fully in his country's fight against Kurdish rebels in North Iraq.