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Kurd rebels gone 'beyond limits of
tolerance', Erdogan tells Bush
21.7.2006
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ANKARA, July 21,
2006 (AFP) , -- Mounting violence by Kurdish rebels
who enjoy a safe haven in Iraq has gone "beyond the
limits of tolerance", Turkish Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan has told US President George W. Bush.
The two leaders spoke on the phone Thursday, after
Ankara threatened a cross-border operation if
Washington and Baghdad fail to crack down on the
separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in
northern Iraq.
The warning followed a series of security meetings
in Ankara after the killing last week of 15 security
force members by PKK militants.
"I told him (Bush) we want to cooperate with the
Iraqi government and he said he agrees we should
work together on this issue," Erdogan told reporters
late Thursday during a visit to northern Cyprus, the
Anatolia news agency reported.
"But I also told him that the limits of our
tolerance have been seriously breached and we cannot
just put aside the fact that we had 15 martyrs in
three days," Erdogan said.
Like Ankara, Washington considers the PKK a terror
organization and has pledged support to its NATO
ally Turkey in combating the group.
But it has been reluctant to crack down on the PKK
in northern Iraq, arguing that allied forces are
overwhelmed by violence in other parts of the
country and that military action in the north could
destabilize the relatively calm Kurdish-populated
region.
Washington has warned Turkey against unilateral
cross-border action, drawing angry accusations from
Erdogan that it is using double standards in the
region -- a reference to US support for Israeli
offensives against Islamist militants in Lebanon and
the Gaza Strip.
Thousands of PKK militants have moved to northern
Iraq since 1999, when the group declared a
unilateral ceasefire after the capture of its leader
Abdullah Ocalan, now serving a life sentence for
treason.
The truce was called off in June 2004 and violence
has markedly escalated since in mainly
Kurdish-populated southeastern Turkey.
Ankara says PKK militants use mountain bases in
northern Iraq as a springboard for attacks inside
Turkey, enjoy unrestricted movement in the
Kurdish-run enclave and are able to easily obtain
weapons and explosives there.
At least 87 PKK rebels and 51 members of the
security forces have died in escalating unrest in
southeast Turkey this year, according to an AFP
count.
Kurdish militants also claimed responsibility for 11
bomb attacks in urban centres, in which nine people
were killed and nearly 140 injured.
AFP
Southeastern Turkey:
North Kurdistan (
Kurdistan-Turkey) wikipedia
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