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Talabani: We don't want a second Lebanon in Iraq
31.7.2006
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ANKARA, Iraqi
President Jalal Talabani voiced strong opposition to
a possible cross-border operation by the Turkish
Armed Forces (TSK) against the outlawed Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK) in Kurdistan (northern Iraq).
"We do not want a second Lebanon in Iraq," Talabani
was quoted as saying in an interview with Swiss Neue
Zuercher Zeitung newspaper.
Talabani claimed that the possible operation could
lead to a second Lebanon in Iraq and said they were
already exerting intense efforts to reduce terrorism
and that they would not accept a cross-border
operation in Kurdistan (northern Iraq).
Stating that there had been a considerable decrease
in the number of terrorist attacks in Iraq compared
to last year, Talabani reportedly said a maximum
four attacks occurred in Iraq on daily basis, while
the number was 14 last year. |
Iraqi
President : Jalal Talabani, a Kurd
Photo: Military |
In earlier remarks, Massoud Barzani, President of
Kurdistan region in northern Iraq, said they would
consider a possible intervention by Turkey in
Kurdistan (northern Iraq) as "an attack on their
soil," apparently answering increased warnings from
the Turkish capital that it could militarily
intervene in the region.
Iraqi Kurds agree to isolate PKK in mountains
Iraqi Kurdish leaders have called on outlawed
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) members to lay down
arms or face isolation at their mountain camps, a
Turkish news report said yesterday.
The Kurdish leaders' call on the PKK two weeks ago
is part of a comprehensive drive by Turkey to “bring
the PKK members down from mountains” that
authorities have been working on for about a year,
Sabah daily said.
Turkey has been fighting an escalating campaign at
the hands of the PKK and is urging the United States
and Iraqi authorities to crack down on the group's
camps in northern Iraq. Recently, it has stepped up
its warnings that it could send its own forces to
hit the PKK camps if the U.S. and Iraqi inactivity
persists.
Sabah said Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd,
and Massoud Barzani, who heads Iraq's
semi-autonomous Kurdish region, were pressed by the
United States and politicians of Kurdish origin in
Turkey to come up with such a strategy against the
PKK.
More than 37,000 people have been killed since 1984,
when the PKK took up arms for self-rule in the
mainly Kurdish southeast of the country.
PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Turkey, the
European Union and the United States
Source: turkishdailynews com.tr
Southeastern Turkey:
North Kurdistan (
Kurdistan-Turkey) wikipedia
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