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US Secretary of State Rice uses term
"Kurdistan" to describe northern Iraq
28.2.2007 |
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February 28, 2007
WASHINGTON -- US Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice, while speaking before a US Senate
hearing on the PKK, used the term "Kurdistan" this
week to describe Kurdish region in (northern Iraq)
while talking about PKK attacks on Turkish
territory.
Said Rice, "The PKK, which is active on the border
between Turkey and Kurdistan, is responsible for
attacks on Turkish soil." Present at the meeting
were also US Defense Secretary Robert Gates and US
Chief of Staff General Peter Pace, as well as
various US senators.
In shift, US to join Iran, Syria in talks about
Iraq |
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice |
The United States agreed
yesterday to join high-level talks with Iran and
Syria on the future of Iraq, an abrupt shift in
policy that opens the door to diplomatic dealings
the White House had shunned in recent months despite
mounting criticism.
The move was announced by Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice in testimony on Capitol Hill, after
Iraq said it had invited neighboring states, the
United States, and other nations to a pair of
regional conferences.
"I would note that the Iraqi government has invited
all of its neighbors, including Syria and Iran, to
attend both of these regional meetings," Rice told
the Senate Appropriations Committee.
"We hope that all governments will seize this
opportunity to improve the relations with Iraq and
to work for peace and stability in the region."
The first meeting, at the ambassadorial level, will
be held next month. Then, Rice herself will sit down
at the table with the foreign ministers from
Damascus and Tehran at a second meeting in April
elsewhere in the region, possibly Istanbul.
The Iraq Study Group, the bipartisan panel whose
recommendations were largely ignored by the
administration, had recommended such a regional
meeting in its December report.
Rice and other administration officials emphasized,
however, that these conferences would be led and
organized by the Iraqi government, not the United
States as suggested by the study group. Still,
Democrats seized on the announcement as a long
overdue change in direction by the administration.
hurriyet com.tr | boston com
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