Turkey Retreats From Threats To Invade Iraq
WASHINGTON — Turkey is backing down from its threats to launch an incursion into northern Iraq after intense diplomatic pressure from America and other Western countries.
Yesterday, the Turkish foreign minister, Ali Babacan, told reporters in Ankara that his government was willing to give diplomacy a chance. He added that a summit scheduled for November 2 in Istanbul would be “an occasion to discuss all problems in Iraq, including our problem with terrorism.”
The statement marks a retreat from a resolution passed by a vote of 507 to 19 in the Turkish parliament on Wednesday that authorizes cross-border raids into Iraq.
Turkey claims that members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, are hiding out on the mountainous Turkish-Iraqi border and that the Kurdistan regional government in northern Iraq, as well as the Iraqi government in Baghdad, has done little to turn over PKK terrorists. In the past two weeks, PKK raids on Turkish military positions near the Iraqi border have claimed 15 lives, heightening tensions on the border.
An adviser to Prime Minister Erdogan of Turkey, Egemen Bagis, said in an interview with Bloomberg News that America should treat the PKK the same way it treats Al Qaeda.
America yesterday welcomed Mr. Babacan’s statement on diplomacy, a State Department spokesman, David Foley, told The New York Sun.
“We encourage continued dialogue between Turkey and Iraq and the implementation of the counterterrorism agreement they signed September 28,” he said. “We call on Iraqi authorities to take effective measures against the PKK threat. We stand ready to support in every way appropriate efforts by Turkey and Iraq to protect their citizens and stop this terrorist violence.”
Full NYS article by Eli Lake HERE.
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