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Turkey urged to tackle PKK problem through
dialogue with Kurdistan Government
8.2.2007
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February 8, 2007
The best way to deal with separatist Kurdish PKK
rebels staging attacks on Turkish territory from
bases in northern Iraq would involve dialogue with
the Kurdistan regional government, rather than
military intervention, a top US diplomat said on
Wednesday (February 7th).
"I think there are serious risks if Turkey moves in,
and I hope that we're able to work with Turkey so
this choice can be avoided," the AP quoted US
Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried as saying
in an interview broadcast on CNN-Turk.
The fight against militants from the Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK), who use northern Iraq's
Kurdistan region as a launch pad for attacks on
Turkish territory, topped the agenda of Turkish
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul's talks with US
officials in Washington this week. Outlawed in
Turkey, the PKK is considered a terrorist
organisation by both the United States and the EU.
More than 30,000 Turkish soldiers and Kurdish PKK
guerrillas have been killed since 1984 when the PKK
took up arms for a Kurdish homeland in the country's
mainly Kurdish southeast of Turkey. |
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, right, meets
with Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul |
Turkey is home to some 20 million ethnic Kurds, some
of whom openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK for a
Kurdish homeland in the country's mainly Kurdish
southeast of Turkey
Gul, who began his six-day visit to the United
States on Monday, called for greater US
co-operation.
"We have conveyed to US officials that they are late
in taking action in northern Iraq, and the Turkish
people want to see an action," Gul said in a
statement late Tuesday. "US officials are aware of
this," he added hours after his meeting with
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Last August, Washington appointed retired General
Joseph Ralston, a former NATO supreme allied
commander, as the co-ordinator of US efforts to deal
with the PKK.
"In terms of the PKK, I think that everybody is in
agreement that we want to try to resolve this
issue," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack
told reporters during a briefing Tuesday. "General
Ralston is working to decrease those tensions on
both sides of the border."
Another key issue on Gul's agenda was a non-binding
US congressional resolution, likely to be discussed
in March, that condemns the killings of up to 1.5
million Armenians in the waning days of the Ottoman
empire as genocide. Such resolutions have no direct
bearing on policy and no legal impact. Nevertheless,
the minister warned, the bill could seriously
affect ties.
"I believe that Turkish-American relations should
not be taken hostage by this issue," Gul said. [But]
"I see this as a real threat to our relationship."
The White House has opposed similar legislation in
the past. On Wednesday, McCormack said the
administration understands the sensitivities in
Turkey, in communities in the United States and in
other parts of the world, and has conveyed Ankara's
concerns.
Other issues Gul and Rice discussed on Tuesday
included Lebanon, Iran, the Middle East, Turkish-EU
relations and Kosovo. On Monday, the Turkish foreign
minister met with Vice President Dick Cheney,
Defence Secretary Robert Gates and the president's
National Security Adviser, Stephen Hadley.
setimes com | AP | AKI
**
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"
Southeast Turkey. The Kurds have no rights in
Turkey.
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
First world war
massacres | Related
issue:
Armenian Genocide by Turkish Muslims against
Christians
Turkey faces international pressure to recognise
that more than 1 million Armenians were massacred
during a 1915 campaign of ethnic cleansing by
Ottoman Turks. Turkish officials claim that most
deaths were caused by hunger and disease.
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