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Rice expected in Turkey on April 26 for
talks in Iraq, Iran
19.4.2006
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ANKARA - US
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will pay a
one-day visit to Turkey on April 26 for talks on
Iran’s nuclear programme and the situation in Iraq,
a Turkish diplomat said Wednesday.
Rice is expected to meet her Turkish counterpart
Abdullah Gul, President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the diplomat said,
speaking on condition of anonymity.
Turkey has long been frustrated by Washington’s
reluctance to act against armed Kurdish rebels
hiding out in the mountains of northern Iraq from
where they infiltrate Turkish territory to attack
government targets.
Violence in Turkey’s Kurdish-majority southeast
(Kurdistan-Turkey), which borders northern Iraq
(Kurdistan-Iraq), has increased markedly since last
year after the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)
called off a five-year unilateral truce in June
2004. |
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
Photo: White House |
Washington has been leery of committing itself to
military action, arguing instead for means to dry up
the group’s financial resources.
More than 37,000 people have been killed since 1984
when the PKK, considered a terrorist organisation by
Turkey, the United States and the European Union,
took up arms for self-rule in southeastern Turkey.
Turkey is also wary of the nuclear crisis over its
eastern neighbour Iran, which has refused to suspend
its uranium enrichment activities despite
international pressure.
The UN Security Council has asked Iran, which the
West suspects of seeking to develop nuclear weapons,
to suspend its activities by April 28.
AFP
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