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Zebari: PKK offices in Baghdad and
Kurdistan-Iraq will be shut down 2.8.2006
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ANKARA – August
2, -- Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said in
an interview that the offices of a number of
political parties allied with the outlawed Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK) in Kurdistan Region (northern
Iraq) as well as a PKK office in Baghdad would be
shut down.
Speaking to The Washington Times, Zebari said the
PKK office in Baghdad [only 500 meters from the
Turkish Embassy, which took the name of the outlawed
group's imprisoned leader, Abdullah Öcalan, would be
shut down immediately.
Turkey has already sent an ultimatum to Iraq for the
closure of the PKK office via the Turkish Embassy in
Baghdad. |
Hoshyar Zebari, Iraqi foreign minister |
"First of all, they are non-Iraqis,” Zebari told The
Washington Times. “Second, this is not the place for
them to operate or to lobby whatsoever. Third, there
was a joint message delivered to them from Iraqi
Kurdistan region President Massoud Barzani, and
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, asking the PKK to
stop fighting. We believe that these measures will
convince everybody that we are in business to fight
the PKK.”
In comments over a possible Turkish intervention
against the PKK in Kurdistan (northern Iraq), Zebari
was quoted as saying: “Any Turkish incursion will
not be acceptable to the Iraqi government or the
U.S. government, because it will clearly undermine
every prospect of a peaceful, democratic Federal
Iraq.”
In earlier remarks, Talabani voiced strong
opposition to a possible cross-border operation by
the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) against the PKK in
Iraqi Kurdistan, saying, “We do not want a second
Lebanon in Iraq.”
In the face of mounting attacks by the PKK in the
Kurdish southeastern Turkey, Ankara has called on
the United States and Iraqi authorities to act,
warning that it would carry out a cross-border
operation inside Iraqi territory. In an attempt to
calm growing Turkish frustration with U.S.
inactivity against the group in Iraq, Washington has
assured stepped up efforts against the PKK.
Asked how the Iraqi government would address the PKK
problem, Zebari said, referring to his recent visit
to Ankara: "We discussed with the Turkish government
-- all these issues in great detail. I proposed to
them to revive the tripartite committee -- Turkey,
the U.S. and Iraq, with a member of the Kurdistan
regional government also.
” The United States opposes any Turkish military
action inside Iraq, believing that it could further
destabilize a war-ravaged Iraq, and has been trying
to discourage Ankara regarding an incursion.
Washington instead advocates the use of a tripartite
cooperation mechanism created by the United States,
Iraq and Turkey to handle the problem.
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 Turkey.
PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Turkey, the
European Union and the United States
turkishdailynews com.tr
Southeastern Turkey:
North Kurdistan (
Kurdistan-Turkey) wikipedia
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