US Promises To Fight Kurdish Rebels With Turkey
ANKARA, Turkey- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice assured Turkish officials Friday that Kurdish rebels based in northern Iraq were a “common threat” and that the United States would help Ankara in its fight against them.
Speaking after meeting with both Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, Rice said she had emphasized that the United States is “committed to redoubling its efforts” to help Turkey in its struggle against the rebel fighters.
“We consider this a common threat, not just to the interests of Turkey but to the interests of the United States as well,” she said at a joint news conference with Babacan. “This is going to take persistence and it’s going to take commitment—this is a very difficult problem.”
En route here, Rice told reporters in her traveling party that the United States, Turkey and Iraq will counter any attacks on Turkey by the rebels.
She didn’t specify just what that meant but did warn against doing anything that might worsen the volatile situation on the Turkish-Iraqi border.
Washington worries that a cross-border incursion would bring instability to what has been the calmest part of Iraq, and could set a precedent for other countries, like Iran, who also have conflicts with Kurdish rebels.
But Ankara has been resolute in saying that, unless it hears concrete measures the United States will take against the rebel Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, it will launch an attack.
“We have great expectations from the United States, we are at the point where words have been exhausted and where there is need for action,” Babacan said.
But he also signaled that Turkey might be willing to consult with Washington before moving ahead with a cross-border attack on the rebels.
“We hold a common view about taking up all problems together and creating solutions for them,” Babacan said.
Rice said the U.S. was looking at enhancing its intelligence and information sharing with Turkey and that she had begun talking with the Turkish leaders about longer term solutions.
“The United States is committed to redoubling its efforts, because we need a comprehensive approach to this problem…” she said. “No one should doubt the United States in this situation.”
Rice added that the U.S. would also put more pressure on the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to crack down on the Kurdish rebels operating from the north of his country.
“We want to look to a plan for effective action against the PKK that will require not just the U.S. and Turkey but also the Iraqi government,” Rice said.
“That is a discussion, I plan to have when I see Prime Minister al- Maliki later on today,” she added.
Ahead of the talks with Babacan, Rice met with Erdogan, who heads to Washington for talks Monday with President Bush.
(AP)
Be respectful of others and their opinions. Inflammatory remarks and inane leftist drivel will be deleted. It ain’t about free speech, remember you’re in a private domain. My website, my prerogative.
If you can't handle using your real email address, don't bother posting a comment.
Good! Just another band of commies monkey wrenching a tough situation in order to create chaos. These little groups can be very disruptive especially when we are getting a handle on things. Funny how they are always there sticking their fingers, and in this case as in many other an AK in the pot. I’d like to know who is morally and financially supporting them?? russia iran??
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:12 pmGregGS, that’s right, somebody’s alway got to be stirring up shit.
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:25 pmWait a minute here…
November 2nd, 2007 at 4:02 pmThe Kurds used to be our allies against Saddam. These are the same people that Saddam insane gassed with chemical weapons we gave him to fight Iran, and now we are calling them our enemies? He killed hundreds of thousands of them!! and it was part of the justification for going to war.
Aren’t we negating that rationale now by siding against them? Something else is going on here…How can we call them a “common threat”? Kurdish Iraq is the most stable region in the country.
Someone please explain this because the whole thing stinks of something fishy…
Jack, we’re not going after the Kurdish people. We are going against the PKK which has been designated a terror group by our own government. We probably would have given them a pass if it had not been for the buildup of Turkish troops on Iraqs northern border.
November 2nd, 2007 at 4:53 pmThe Kurds are indeed our allies. If we go after the PKK, we kill two birds with one stone…One, we keep the Turks from destroying Iraqi Kurdistan. And two, we remind the Kurds that we have been helping them for 10 years, but the PKK has got to go. If anyone can pull it off, the US can. We are allies with the Kurds and the Turks…by getting rid of the PKK we end up helping both the Kurds and the Turks.
I’d like to see the Kurds continue to prosper…And the Kurds need turkish trade to do so. Eliminating the PKK helps everyone.
November 2nd, 2007 at 5:27 pmDoes helping muslims against anyone else ever go well?
Something to think about.
November 7th, 2007 at 4:36 pm