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ISTANBUL, Jan. 11 - The commander of American
forces in the Middle East told the Turkish
government on Tuesday that he could not spare any
troops to meet its request for an assault on Kurdish
guerrillas who have been using northern Iraq as a
base for attacks on Turkish forces.
Gen. John P. Abizaid, head of the Army's Central
Command, said during a visit in Ankara that the
United States considered the main Kurdish separatist
group, the P.K.K., a terrorist organization. But, he
added, "we also understand - all of us understand -
that our troops have a lot of work to do there along
with the Iraqi security forces, and we agree that,
over time, we must deal with the P.K.K."
The general's statement, little different from the
assurances given by other American officials over
the last year, was unlikely to ease either
government or public hostility in Turkey toward
American policy in Iraq.
Turkey has complained for months that the United
States has done little in Iraq to discourage
Turkey's Kurdish separatists, to stop the eviction
of the Turkmen population from the disputed city of
Kirkuk, or to prevent frequent kidnappings and
killings of Turkish workers and truck drivers in
Iraq.
The government also fears that an overwhelming
victory by Iraqi Shiites in the elections this month
could lead Iraqi Kurds to solidify their
semiautonomous status in northern Iraq.
A separate American delegation, headed by Laura
Kennedy, a deputy under secretary of state, also met
with Turkish and Iraqi officials in Ankara on
Tuesday to talk about the P.K.K. incursions. A
statement issued after the meeting underscored that
the United States preferred to see the Iraqis and
Turks work out the problem together.
http://www.nytimes.com .
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