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Turkey expects 'operational' support from
US against Kurdish rebels
25.4.2006
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ANKARA, April 24,
2006 (AFP) - Turkey called on the United States
Monday for "operational" support against separatist
Turkish Kurd rebels based in neighboring northern
Iraq, saying that intelligence sharing alone cannot
be effective against "terrorism."
The appeal came ahead of a visit by US Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice, who will hold talks with
Turkish leaders in Ankara on Wednesday.
"We have had very sincere and fruitful cooperation
(against the PKK) in the past. Today, this
cooperation needs to be taken further," Justice
Minister Cemil Cicek, who is also the government's
spokesman, said after a cabinet meeting.
"Operational cooperation is required in the fight
against terrorism and other types of organized
crime," Cicek said. "Turkey wishes to have not only
intelligence sharing (with the US) but also
cooperation that goes beyond that."
Thousands of armed militants from the Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK), considered a terrorist group
by both Ankara and Washington, have taken refuge in
the mountains of northern Iraq, from where they
infiltrate into adjoining southeast Turkey.
Ankara has repeatedly urged the United States to
crack down on PKK bases in the Kurdish-held region,
but Washington says its troops are swamped by
violence in other parts of conflict-torn Iraq.
The issue has become of increasing importance for
Turkey in recent weeks, which saw escalating clashes
between the PKK and the army in the southeast and a
series of bomb attacks in urban centers blamed on
the group.
Despite Ankara's frustration with US reluctance over
military action against the PKK, Turkish diplomats
say intelligence sharing between the two countries
is improving and Washington is supplying information
on PKK infiltrations into Turkey.
They say US efforts to cut PKK's financing channels
are also under way.
The Turkish army has recently reinforced its troops
in areas bordering Iraq and Iran, preparing to
intensify operations against the rebels, whose
infiltrations usually increase with the arrival of
spring as snow melts and passage through the
mountains becomes easier.
Most PKK militants, whose numbers are estimated at
about 5,000, retreated to northern Iraq in 1999
after the group declared a unilateral ceasefire
following the capture of its leader Abdullah Ocalan.
The truce was called off in June 2004.
Prior to the US-led occupation of Iraq in 2003, the
Turkish army carried out incursions into northern
Iraq to pursue the PKK.
The Kurdish conflict in Turkey has claimed more than
37,000 lives since the PKK took up arms for
self-rule in the southeast in 1984.
AFP
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