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ANKARA, Sept 9 (AFP) - 15h54 - Ranking Turkish
and US military officers discussed ways Friday of
combating armed Turkish Kurd rebels holed up in
northern Iraq, but mentioned neither a timetable nor
what concrete steps would be taken.
A Turkish general staff statement said talks between
General James Jones, head of US land forces in
Europe, and Turkish armed forces chief General Hilmi
Ozkok, "underlined the need for joint determination
and cooperation in the fight against" the outlawed
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
It said the two agreed the PKK was a threat to
Turkey as well as Iraq and the region, and that
measures should be taken to end support for the PKK
in northern Iraq and prevent rebels infiltrating
into Turkey.
Jones told reporters afterward that they had focused
on ways of military cooperation.
"The US central command participated in some very
fruitful talks with the Turkish general staff to
reaffirm the spirit of cooperation to talk
concretely about some of the things that can be
done... with the Turkish armed forces and US Central
Command in northern Iraq," he said.
Asked whether US forces in Iraq might take military
action against the rebels, Jones said he had assured
Turkey of the US determination to wipe out the PKK,
listed as a terrorist group by the United States and
the European Union.
"The talks... should serve as a symbol of
reassurance to the Turkish public... that the
struggle against terrorism is real, the participants
are committed and focused, and it will be resolved
in a successful way," said Jones, who is also the
Supreme Allied commander of NATO.
Turkey has long pressured the United States to act
against thousands of PKK militants who found refuge
in northern Iraq after 1999 and stepped up their
attacks on Turkish targets over the past several
months.
In July, the Turkish army 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.
The PKK announced a unilateral one-month ceasefire
on August 19 to give Turkey time to take steps to
resolve the conflict and improve rights and
liberties for its Kurdish population.
The army has brushed aside the truce, vowing to
press ahead with operations against the rebels.
Some 37,000 people have died since 1984, mostly in
Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast, when the PKK
first took up arms for self-rule in the region.
AFP
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