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UNITED NATIONS, Sept 16 (Reuters) - The Turkish
government will take "the necessary steps" unless
U.S.-led or Iraqi forces crack down on Kurdish
guerrillas from Turkey in northern Iraq, Prime
Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday
Erdogan said he had discusssed the presence of
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters with Iraqi
President Jalal Talabani and Prime Minister Ibrahim
al-Jaafari on Thursday on the sidelines of a United
Nations summit, as well as with U.S. President
George W. Bush earlier this week.
"Our expectations about the PKK continue and I can
tell you that no concrete steps have been taken so
far," he said. "Since the Iraqi security forces are
too weak so far, the U.S. and coalition forces
should help to act against the PKK."
Asked under what circumstances Turkey might have to
take action itself, Erdogan said: "We are doing what
is necessary inside our own borders, but if the
circumstances change, as we have said, the necessary
steps will be taken."
He did not elaborate. Ankara has repeatedly demanded
that U.S. and Iraqi forces do something to combat
PKK forces around the Qandil Mountain in the far
northeast of Iraq, from where it says rebel leaders
direct attacks in neighbouring Turkey.
U.S. military officials say they are too tied up
fighting the insurgency in Iraq to launch operations
against the PKK, which the United States and the
European Union regard as an outlawed terrorist
organisation.
The PKK has fought for an independent Kurdish
homeland in southeast Turkey since 1984. More than
30,000 people have died in the fighting.
Despite a lull in violence after the capture of PKK
leader Abdullah Ocalan in 1999, fighting in
southeast Turkey and bomb attacks in Turkish tourist
resorts have increased sharply since the
organisation called off a unilateral ceasefire last
year.
Erdogan said he had also discussed with Iraqi
leaders Turkey's concerns about the draft Iraqi
constitution, including on the status of the
oil-producing northern city of Kirkuk, which Iraqi
Kurds claim as part of their region but which has a
sizeable ethnic Turkoman minority.
Reuters
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