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Iraq in talks with Turkey amid incursion
threat
13.10.2007
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October
13, 2007
Baghdad,-- Iraqi and Turkish officials met on
Friday for their first high-level talks since Ankara
said it was seeking parliamentary approval for an
incursion to eliminate Kurdish PKK rebels in
Kurdistan region 'northern Iraq'.
A terse statement from the Iraqi government gave few
details of what the defence minister discussed with
the Turkish ambassador in Baghdad, but the meeting
came after both the European Union and the United
States urged dialogue.
Defence Minister Abdel Qader Mohammed Jassim and
ambassador Derya Kanbay discussed "means of
developing relations between the two friendly
countries in the field of combating terror and
exchange of information," the statement said.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on
Friday that he was ready to brave international
censure should his country decide to deal ruthlessly
with Kurdish rebel bases in Iraqi Kurdistan.
A government bill seeking the go-ahead to launch an
incursion any time in the next year is expected to
be submitted to parliament after a cabinet meeting
on Monday.
The autonomous Kurdistan regional government in
'northern Iraq' has warned Turkey against making
good its threat to mount a cross-border incursion to
flush out suspected rear-bases of the rebel
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
Considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the United
States and the European Union, the PKK unleashed an
independence struggle in the mainly Kurdish
southeastern of Turkey in 1984 that has killed more
than 37,000 people.
Turkey and Iraq signed an accord last month to
combat the PKK, but failed to agree on a clause
allowing Turkish troops to engage in "hot pursuit"
against rebels fleeing into Iraqi territory, as they
did regularly in the 1990s.
Ankara charges the PKK has used bases in 'northern
Iraq' to launch a renewed offensive inside Turkey
that saw 15 soldiers killed at the weekend.
Kurdish PKK rebels said on Friday they
were moving
back into Turkey from the mountains of Iraqi
Kurdistan 'northern Iraq' and would target
politicians and police.
"The guerrillas are positioning themselves against
the attacks of the Turkish state," it said. "We will
carry out more attacks against the police."
The United States is eager to avoid any major
embroilment of Turkish troops in Kurdistan 'northern
Iraq', which is one of the few areas of relative
calm in the country. Washington fears a Turkish
invasion would damage its relations with the
Kurdistan administration and have ramifications
through the region. Iraqi Kurds are the strongest
allies the US has in the area.
AFP
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