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Turkey renews expectations from US on
Kurdish rebels as CIA chief visits
13.12.2005
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ANKARA, Dec 12 (AFP)
- 18h00 - Turkey maintained its pressure Monday on
the United States to act against separatist Kurdish
rebels in neighboring northern Iraq as talks began
here with visiting US Central Intelligence Agency
director Porter Goss.
"In the struggle against terrorism, all countries
emphasize the importance of intelligence sharing...
It is well known that Turkey shares intelligence
with the US and other countries in this context,"
Justice Minister Cemil Cicek said after a cabinet
meeting.
"Moreover, Turkey has expectations from the US
regarding in particular the separatist terrorist
organization," Cicek said.
He was referring to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK),
listed as a terrorist group by both Ankara and
Washington and which has been fighting Turkey since
1984 when it took up arms for Kurdish self-rule in
the southeast.
The CIA director's visit "should be seen in the
context of intelligence-sharing and other
measures... on this basis," Cicek said.
Goss's visit comes on the heels of talks here last
week between FBI director Robert Mueller and Turkish
officials, in which the PKK was high on the agenda.
Turkey has long been frustrated by Washington's
reluctance to act against PKK bases in the mountains
of northern Iraq, where the militants retreated
after declaring a unilateral ceasefire in 1999.
PKK violence in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast
has markedly increased this year after the group
called off a five-year truce in June 2004 and its
militants began infiltrating back into Turkey.
Washington has been leery of committing itself to
military action, arguing instead for means to dry up
the group's financial resources.
Goss was to meet Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
Emre Taner, head of the Turkish intelligence agency
MIT, and General Director of Police Gokhan Aydiner
Monday and Tuesday, US embassy officials said, but
gave no other details.
Media reports said allegations that the CIA flew and
interrogated terror suspects through Europe would be
also on Goss's agenda in Ankara.
Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul denied Sunday
that the CIA interrogated terror suspects on Turkish
soil.
He confirmed, however, that a US aircraft, widely
reported to have been chartered by the CIA to
transfer suspected terrorists, made two stopovers in
Istanbul in October and November.
AFP
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