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Stay out of Kurdistan-Iraq, US tells
Turkey
21.7.2006
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WASHINGTON has
warned Turkey that the US opposes any attempt by
Istanbul to pursue separatist Kurdish rebels into
Kurdistan (northern Iraq).
The statement came a day after Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his security
forces were drawing up such plans.
Although such a move would prove domestically
popular, it is likely to hurt Turkey's already
precarious EU accession talks and threaten to
destabilise the calmest part of its strife-ridden
neighbour.
The US statement, issued by its embassy in Ankara,
said Turkey had a right to defend itself against
Kurdish rebels but warned against unilateral action
across the border.
Mr Erdogan said: "There is no point in endlessly
discussing the issue. Our security forces are
getting on with their task. Whatever steps need to
be taken will definitely be taken."
Ankara has long been asking the US military to clamp
down on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK),
which has been using northern Iraq as a base from
which to attack Turkish troops.
On Tuesday, Mr Erdogan accused the US of double
standards for supporting Israel's offensives against
Hezbollah and Hamas while denying Turkey the right
to pursue the PKK.
The guerillas, who have been fighting a separatist
insurgency in Turkey since 1984, recently stepped up
attacks, killing 15 Turkish soldiers in five days.
Options for a response range from a brief air
operation to an incursion of up to 60km into Iraqi
territory involving 50,000 troops.
Mr Erdogan said the ambassadors of the US and Iraq
had been informed of Turkey's demands to act against
the PKK. Washington has in the past told Turkey that
it had its hands too full elsewhere in Iraq.
PKK violence in southeast Turkey had all but died
down after Abdullah Ocalan, its leader, was captured
in 1999 and the demoralised group declared a
unilateral truce.
A state of emergency was lifted in the region and
Turkey, urged by the EU, hesitantly accorded greater
rights to its restive Kurdish minority.
However, the PKK called off its ceasefire two years
ago and is mounting increasingly effective and
intense attacks on Turkish troops.
Where the Turkish army was once able to move freely
across the border - and even leave thousands of
troops there permanently - the US-led invasion put
the territory off limits.
"Turkey has rights arising from international and
domestic law and it will use those rights to the
full," said Justice Minister Cemil Cicek after a
lengthy cabinet meeting about the military losses.
His statement prompted a warning from the US
ambassador, but Mr Erdogan retorted by saying that a
foreign ambassador had no say in Turkey's military
decisions.
The Times | theaustralian news.com.au
Southeastern Turkey:
North Kurdistan (
Kurdistan-Turkey) wikipedia
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