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US tells Turkey time not ripe for military
action against Kurdish rebels
24.3.2006
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ANKARA, March 24,
2006 - The top US military officer on Friday ruled
out any action against separatist Turkish Kurd
rebels in Kurdistan (northern Iraq) before Iraqi
authorities are able to bring the security situation
in their country under control and set up a strong
government.
"Any kind of attack against the PKK inside Kurdistan
(northern Iraq) will have to wait until we are able
to get the security situation throughout Iraq to a
level at which the Iraqi government can function,"
Peter Pace, the chairman of the US joint chiefs of
staff, said in an interview with the NTV news
channel.
He added that possible action against rebels from
the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK),
blacklisted as a terrorist group by Turkey, the
United States and the European Union, would also
require an Iraqi government that can "stand up".
"We should understand that the best way to deal with
the PKK is from a position of strength," said Pace,
who was in Turkey to attend a conference on global
terrorism.
"Your country is strong... We need to strengthen
Iraq so it too can deal with (the PKK) from a
position of strength," Pace added.
Turkey has long been frustrated by Washington's
reluctance to act against PKK rebels who have found
refuge in northern Iraq after declaring a unilateral
ceasefire in 1999.
PKK violence in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast,
which borders northern Iraq, has markedly increased
since last year after the group called off the truce
in June 2004 and its militants began infiltrating
back into Turkey.
Washington has been leery of committing itself to
military action, arguing instead for means to dry up
the group's financial resources.
Some 37,000 people have been killed since 1984 when
the PKK picked up arms for self-rule in southeastern
Turkey (Northern Kurdistan).
AFP
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