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Turkey to demand more from Washington on
Kurdish rebels: FM
2.10.2006 |
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New York, October
1, -- Turkey expects Washington and Baghdad to do
more to curb Kurdish rebels, Turkish Foreign
Minister Abdullah Gul said in an interview Sunday,
warning that Turkey would "do the job ourselves" if
needed.
"We are expecting serious cooperation on this issue
from all Iraqis as well as from the US," Gul told
Newsweek magazine last week, ahead of talks Monday
in Washington between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan and US President George W. Bush.
"In the past, the leader of the PKK lived in Syria,
and that regime was the enemy. Now the leaders of
the PKK are in northern Iraq, which is controlled by
the Coalition forces," Gul said.
The Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK, considered a
terrorist organisation by Turkey, the European Union
and the United States, has camps in northern Iraq
from which armed units sporadically attack Turkey.
"PKK terrorism has increased. Also, the PKK has a
new source of weapons. They have obtained weapons
and explosives from the Iraqi Army. They bring them
into Turkey and use them with remote-control
devices," Gul said.
Asked if Turkey would invade northern Iraq to bring
the PKK under control, Gul said: "We will do
whatever necessary to fight this organization. I
want to give the message that if our friends don't
help us, we will do the job ourselves."
The conflict was expected to be at the heart of
talks between Erdogan and Bush, despite the
ceasefire announced this weekend by Kurd rebels.
Talking to journalists on the flight to New York,
Erdogan said the most important subject he would
discuss with Bush was the PKK, the daily Hurriyet
reported.
"I will ask for an acceleration in the application
of decisions made. I will ask for things such as the
prevention of infiltrations, the closure of offices
(PKK offices in Iraq), the clarification of the (US)
attitude towards terrorists in Iraq," the prime
minister was quoted as saying.
Erdogan rejected the ceasefire call, saying "a
ceasefire is done between states. It is not
something for a terrorist organisation."
Ankara has often complained of the inertia shown by
Iraq and the United States towards the PKK in the
area and even threatened earlier this year to
intervene directly itself to eradicate these camps.
The rebels have been fighting for the independence
of southeast Turkey, which has a majority Kurd
population, since 1984 in a conflict which has left
at least 37,000 dead.
AFP
The use of the term "Kurdistan" is vigorously
rejected due to its alleged political implications
by the Republic of Turkey, which does not recognize
the existence of a "Turkish Kurdistan".
Others estimate as many as 40 million Kurds live in
Big Kurdistan (Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Iran, Armenia),
which covers an area as big as France, about half of
all Kurds which estimate to 20 million live in
Turkey.
The Kurdish flag flown officially in Iraqi Kurdistan but
unofficially flown by Kurds in Armenia. The flag is
banned in Iran, Syria, and Turkey where flying it is
a criminal offence"
Southeastern Turkey:
North Kurdistan (
Kurdistan-Turkey) wikipedia
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