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ANKARA: Washington is committed to preserving
Iraq’s unity, and also to combating Turkish Kurd
rebels holed up in the north of Iraq, US Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice said on Sunday in an
interview with Turkish television broadcast on the
second day of a visit.
Rice’s assurances came in response to Turkish
concerns that the United States may fail to restrain
Kurdish moves to seek independence for northern
Iraq, may also be reluctant to clamp down on
separatist Turkish Kurd rebels who have fought the
Ankara government since 1984.
“The United States favours a unified Iraq in which
the rights of all Iraqis are represented and
respected,” Rice told the NTV news channel, with
voice-over translation into Turkish. While shaping
their post-war nation, the Iraqis have the
responsibility to create a country that will live in
peace with its neighbours, she said.
She also said that the United States “will not turn
a blind eye to any kind of terrorism stemming from
Iraq,” including attacks carried out by Turkish
Kurds operating from the north of the country.
Following the January 30 elections in Iraq which are
set to yield major political gains for the Kurds,
Ankara has issued a series of stern warnings that
the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, which many Kurds want
to see as the capital of an independent Kurdish
state, should not fall under Kurdish control.
Rice said it was up to the Iraqis to decide on the
future status of Kirkuk, but stressed that the
ethnically volatile city should be a place where
“all Iraqis will live together without fears.”
Turkey fears that if Iraq’s Kurds gain effective
control of Kirkuk’s oil riches, it would encourage
them to seek independence from the rest of Iraq.
Independence-minded moves in northern Iraq might in
turn embolden separatism across the border in
southeastern Turkey, where a Kurdish rebellion led
by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has
already claimed some 37,000 lives.
Ankara is also frustrated that the United States has
failed to take military action against PKK
guerrillas who found refuge in northern Iraq prior
to the US-led invasion in March 2003, and who last
year ended a five-year unilateral ceasefire with
Turkey.
Rice assured her listeners that the United States
was “very determined” to ensure that the PKK is
prevented from carrying out activities against
Turkey from inside Iraq. Rice, however, stopped
short of pledging military action against the
rebels, highlighting the difficult security
situation that US troops faced in other parts of
Iraq.
She said trilateral security meetings between
Turkey, Iraq and the United States should continue
and that the parties should also seek to use
non-military measures, such as cutting off sources
of finance for the PKK.
Washington considers the PKK, also known as KONGRA-GEL,
a terrorist group.
AFP
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