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Bush, Erdogan discuss Turkey's concerns over
Kurdish rebels
23.7.2006
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CRAWFORD, Texas,
July 22, (AFP) , -- The United States, firmly in
support of Israel's strikes in Lebanon, grappled
Saturday with Turkey's warnings that it is losing
patience in the face of attacks by Kurdish rebels
based in Iraq.
US officials fear that any Turkish raid on the
separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) -- branded
a terrorist group in Ankara and Washington -- would
upset the relatively calm northern area of war-torn
Iraq.
US President George W. Bush and Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed the issue by
telephone Saturday for the second time in three
days, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.
Bush and Erdogan "discussed the continuing PKK
terrorist attacks against Turkey. The president told
the prime minister that the United States will work
with Turkey to deal with this terrorist threat,"
said Perino.
Bush had stressed "the need to work jointly to
address that terrorist threat" when the two leaders
broached the same subject in a telephone
conversation on Thursday, according to the White
House.
The exchange, during which they also discussed
Israel's campaign against Hezbollah militants in
Lebanon, followed a series of security meetings in
Ankara after PKK members killed 15 Turkish security
force members.
"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 said 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 told reporters.
Early last week, the United States warned Turkey
that a cross-border operation against Kurdish rebel
bases in Iraq would be "unwise" after Ankara
threatened one if Washington and Baghdad fail to
crack down on the PKK.
That drew angry charges of a US double-standard --
backing Israel's operations in Lebanon and Gaza but
holding Turkey back -- from Erdogan, who hinted that
contingency plans were already being drawn up.
"Terrorism is terrorism everywhere," Erdogan said in
Istanbul on July 18. "It is not possible to agree
with a mentality that tolerates country A and
displays a different attitude when it comes to
country B."
"At the end of the day, we know how to take care of
our problems," he said. "The competent authorities
are working accordingly... We keep ourselves ready
against possible developments."
Washington has been reluctant to crack down on the
PKK in Kurdistan (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 Kurdish-populated
region.
The United States' failure to crack down on the PKK
has often poisoned its ties with Turkey, a key ally
in the Middle East, and has been blamed as a prime
reason for growing anti-US sentiment among Turks.
At least 87 PKK rebels and 51 members of the
security forces have died this year in southeast
Turkey, according to an AFP count.
Kurdish militants also claimed responsibility for 11
bomb attacks in urban centers, in which nine people
were killed and nearly 140 injured.
AFP
Southeastern Turkey:
North Kurdistan (
Kurdistan-Turkey) wikipedia
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