|
Iraqi government to send high-ranking
delegation to Turkey
17.10.2007
|
|
|
|
October
17, 2007
BAGHDAD,-- The Iraqi government said on
Wednesday it would send a delegation to Turkey to
assure Ankara that it was committed to stopping
Kurdish PKK rebels from using Iraq as a launch pad
for attacks on its neighbor.
The announcement came as Turkey's parliament
prepared to vote on cross-border operations into
Kurdistan region 'northern Iraq' to hunt down
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels hiding out in
the mountainous region. Turkey's move follows a
series of deadly attacks on Turkish troops.
The Iraqi announcement followed a meeting of a
government crisis committee chaired by Prime
Minister Nuri al-Maliki which has been set up to try
to resolve tensions with Turkey.
On Tuesday, Maliki dispatched Sunni Arab Vice
President Tareq al-Hashemi to Ankara for urgent
talks to head off any major incursion into Kurdistan
'northern Iraq' by Turkish troops.
www.ekurd.net
"The Iraqi government affirms its commitments to
prevent the terrorist activities of the PKK against
neighboring Turkey," Maliki's office said in a
statement.
It said the government would send a "high-level
political and security delegation to Turkey to deal
with the latest security developments on the borders
between the two countries."
The statement did not say when the delegation would
leave or who would be in it.
U.S. and Iraqi security forces have so far failed to
take action against the estimated 3,000 PKK
guerrillas hiding in northern Iraq, despite repeated
Turkish appeals.
Baghdad's government has little sway over the
largely autonomous Kurdistan region in the north of
the country, which has its own government and
security forces that are reluctant to take action
against their own kin.
The Iraqi statement reiterated that Baghdad was
committed to an anti-terrorism deal it signed with
Ankara in September, under which the two countries
agreed to take all necessary measures, including
financial and intelligence, to combat the PKK and
other militant groups.
"The Iraqi government affirms its desire to
establish the best relations with neighboring Turkey
on the basis of joint interests and ...
non-intervention in internal affairs," it said.
Ankara blames the PKK for the deaths of more than
37,000 people since the group launched an armed
struggle for a Kurdish homeland in mainly Kurdish
southeast of Turkey in 1984.
Reuters
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 