|
ANKARA, Aug 23 (AFP) - A ranking US official is
expected here Thursday for talks on bilateral ties
and particularly measures to combat armed Turkish
Kurd rebels holed up in the mountains of northern
Iraq, a US spokesman said.
Matt Bryza, deputy assistant secretary of state for
European and Eurasian affairs, "will be visiting
Ankara for two days to discuss general matters...
The PKK (the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party)
issue could also be brought up," the spokesman, who
requested anonymity, said Tuesday.
Bryza is also expected to meet officials in charge
of the economy and "possibly" military officials, he
added.
US Joint Chief of Staff General Richard Myers and
General John Abizaid, head of the US Central
Command, are also expected in Ankara in September,
but the exact date of the visit has not been set,
the spokesman said.
Turkey has long pressured the United States to act
against thousands of PKK militants who have found
refuge in northern Iraq since 1999 and stepped up
their attacks on Turkish targets over the past
several months.
Last month, the Turkish army's number two, General
Ilker Basbug, said Washington had ordered the
capture of PKK commanders in northern Iraq and
warned of a Turkish military incursion into the
region if Baghdad fails to curb the rebels.
Last week, the PKK, listed by the United States and
the European Union as a terrorist group, announced a
unilateral one-month ceasefire until September 20 to
give Turkey time to take steps to resolve the
conflict.
Some 37,000 people have died since 1984, when the
PKK first took up arms for self-rule in Turkey's
mainly Kurdish southeast.
AFP
Top |
® 