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US opposes Turkish action against Kurdish
rebels in Kurdistan-Iraq
25.4.2006
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ANKARA, April 25,
2006 (AFP) - 16h56 - US Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice urged Turkey on Tuesday to refrain
from unilateral action against Iraq-based separatist
Kurdish rebels, calling instead for renewed
trilateral cooperation to fight the threat.
"We agreed that we all have interests in making
certain that the borders of Iraq are as secure as
possible... to make sure that Iraqi soil cannot be
used as a base for terrorism," Rice told reporters
after talks with her Turkish counterpart Abdullah
Gul.
Rice said she and Gul agreed to reactivate a
security mechanism between Washington, Ankara and
Baghdad to discuss and implement measures against
the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) once the
new Iraqi government takes office. |
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
Photo: White House |
"We share information and we will continue to be
active in the future in helping with the PKK, but of
course we want that anything we do contributes to
the stability in Iraq and not threaten the stability
or make a difficult situation worse," Rice said.
"That is why a coooperative approach is very
important."
Rice's comments came as Turkey massed troops in
areas bordering Iraq and Iran to intensify
operations against rebels who have been infiltrating
southeast Turkey from their northern Iraq bases in
growing numbers since the start of spring to engage
in violent action on Turkish territory.
Turkey says an estimated 5,000 PKK rebels have found
refugee in northern Iraq since 1999 when the group,
considered a terrorist organization by both Ankara
and Washington, declared a unilateral ceasefire and
withdrew from Turkey.
Ankara has repeatedly urged the United States to
crack down on PKK bases in Kurdish-held northern
Iraq, but Washington says its troops are swamped by
violence in other parts of Iraq.
The issue has become of increasing importance for
Turkey in recent weeks amid escalating clashes
between the PKK and the army in the southeast and a
series of bomb attacks blamed on the group in urban
centers around the country.
AFP
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