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Turkey hits out at Iraq over Kurdish
rebels
27.4.2006
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ANKARA, April 27,
2006 (AFP) , -- Turkey said Thursday neighboring
Iraq should be pleased with Turkish military
reinforcements at their border because Baghdad was
unable on its own to tackle Kurdish rebels based on
its territory.
"If they (the Iraqis) do
not have adequate forces, if their forces do not
have the adequate capabilities to fight terror, then
they should be pleased with the measures we are
taking," Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said in
televised remarks in the northwestern city of Edirne.
"There is absolutely nothing... that should cause
hesitation among the Iraqis because what is being
done is aimed totally at preventing the terrorist
organization from infiltrating Turkey.
"They (the Iraqis) should be even helping us in our
activities," he said.
The US ambassador to Turkey lent support to the
enhanced measures at the frontier, but warned that
any cross-border operations by Turkish forces would
be "unwise."
Turkey has long urged the United States and Iraq to
root out the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) from its
bases in the mountains of northern Iraq, but it has
been told that violence in other parts of the
conflict-torn country was their priority.
The PKK, which took up arms for Kurdish self-rule in
southeast Turkey in 1984, is blacklisted as a
terrorist group by Ankara, the European Union and
the United States.
The issue has become of increasing importance for
Turkey in recent weeks amid escalating clashes
between the PKK and the army and a series of bomb
attacks blamed on the group in urban centers.
Turkey has massed troops along the border to
intensify operations against PKK rebels who are
sneaking into Turkey in growing numbers with the
arrival of spring when snow melts and makes passage
through the mountains easier.
Northern Iraq is administered by the Iraqi Kurds,
who have had tense relations with Turkey since the
US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Ankara denied media reports Wednesday that Turkish
commandos were crossing into Iraq to pursue PKK
rebels in hit-and-run operations.
Diplomats said the Iraqi ambassador handed a note
seeking information on the military build-up at the
border, but denied that the note included a protest
over the alleged cross-border operations.
US ambassador Ross Wilson said Thursday they did not
have any intelligence that Turkish commandos were
pursuing rebels on Iraqi territory.
"We think that cross-border operations would be
unwise," Wilson told reporters, according to a
transcript released by the embassy.
"We certainly support the work that Turkey is
doing... to strengthen its border controls (and) its
ability to interdict terrorists who come across," he
said. "We do not believe that there should be a
sanctuary anywhere for PKK terrorists."
Washington, he said, was ready to resume trilateral
meetings with Ankara and Baghdad once the new Iraqi
government is formed "to focus on the problem of the
PKK presence in northern Iraq and try together to do
something about it."
During a visit to Ankara Tuesday, US Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice pledged US support against
the PKK, but warned that cross-border operations
could complicate efforts to restore stability in
Iraq.
The Turkish army conducted incursions into Iraq
before the US-led invasion.
Thousands of armed PKK militants have found refuge
in northern Iraq since 1999, when the group declared
a unilateral ceasefire after the capture of its
leader, Abdullah Ocalan. The truce was called off in
June 2004.
The Kurdish conflict has claimed more than 37,000
lives since the PKK launched its separatist campaign
in 1984.
AFP
Southeast Turkey: Northern Kurdistan (
Kurdistan-Turkey)
Northern Iraq : South Kurdistan (Kurdistan-Iraq)
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