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US seeking 'effective, visible' measures
against Kurdish rebels in Turkey 13.9.2006
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ANKARA, September
13,-- The United States is seeking "effective,
visible" measures to counter Iraq-based separatist
Kurdish rebels and eliminate the threat they pose to
NATO ally Turkey, a special US envoy said here
Wednesday.
"What we are looking for are effective, efficient
measures and we need them urgently," retired General
Joseph W. Ralston told reporters here after talks
with Turkish diplomats, his first since he was
appointed as a special envoy to coordinate efforts
with Turkey.
"They need to be visible so that not only the
Turkish public (but) the American public and the
Iraqi public can see that we are very serious about
eliminating the threat of terrorism," he added.
Ralston, a former supreme commander of NATO, did not
say what was being considered, only that "We are
looking at a broad range of measures."
His comments came a day after a powerful bomb blast
killed 10 people, including seven children, in
Diyarbakir, the main city of Turkey's
Kurdish-populated southeast.
There was no claim of responsibility for the blast,
but immediate suspicions fell on the outlawed
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is blacklisted
as terrorist group by both Turkey and the United
States as well as the European Union.
Turkey's southeast has seen a significant increase
in bloodshed by the rebels since they called off a
five-year unilateral ceasefire in 2004.
Turkey has repeatedly complained that Iraq and the
United States are too passive in the face of PKK
rebels, who use bases in Kurdish-held northern Iraq
for mounting increasing attacks against Turkish
targets across the border.
"PKK terrorism is a fact that we need to fight
jointly. We need to be determined on this issue.
There has been an escalation (of violence) recently.
This must be prevented," the undersecretary of the
Turkish foreign ministry, Ali Tuygan, said after
meeting Ralston.
"We said we expect concrete results from our
cooperation as soon as possible," he added.
Also present in the talks was Edip Baser, a retired
Turkish general appointed as Ralston's counterpart.
Turkey charges that PKK rebels enjoy unrestricted
movement in northern Iraq and are easily able to
obtain weapons and explosives.
It has for long pressed US and Iraqi officials to
arrest leading PKK members based there.
But both the United States and Baghdad have been
reluctant to crack down on the rebels, arguing that
they are swamped by the violence in other parts of
the country.
"We know Iraq has difficulties of its own, but we
have difficulties arising out of Iraq. Whatever
Iraq's difficulties may be, the PKK must be
stopped," a Turkish official said on condition of
anonymity.
Growing impatient, Ankara has even threatened a
cross border operation to attack PKK camps in Iraq,
a move which Washington has opposed on the grounds
that joint action by United States, Turkey and Iraq
would produce better results.
More than 37,000 people have been killed since 1984
when the PKK picked up arms for Kurdish self-rule in
the country's southeastern corner.
AFP
The use of the term "Kurdistan" is vigorously
rejected due to its alleged political implications
by the Republic of Turkey, which does not recognize
the existence of a "Turkish Kurdistan".
Others estimate as many as 40 million Kurds live in
Big Kurdistan (Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Iran, Armenia),
which covers an area as big as France, about half of
all Kurds which estimate to 20 million live in
Turkey
The Kurdish flag flown officially in Iraqi Kurdistan but
unofficially flown by Kurds in Armenia. The flag is
banned in Iran, Syria, and Turkey where flying it is
a criminal offence"
Southeastern Turkey:
North Kurdistan (
Kurdistan-Turkey) wikipedia
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