WILSON DENIES WASHINGTON SUPPORT FOR PEJAK

The New Anatolian, Turkey
Nov 21 2006

U.S. Ambassador to Ankara Ross Wilson denied late Monday published
reports that Washington supports the Iranian branch of the terrorist
Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in order to destabilize Tehran.

Speaking to reporters during a reception given to mark Lebanon’s
national day, Wilson said, "Some people might say different things
about this. I don’t know if the U.S. has officially announced it,
but I consider Pejak [the Party for Free Life in Kurdistan] the
brother of the terrorist PKK."

"The U.S. doesn’t support the PKK and we’re not working together with
Pejak," the U.S. ambassador added.

In this week’s issue of The New Yorker magazine, investigative
journalist Seymour Hersh claimed that the U.S. has supported Pejak,
terrorist PKK’s Iran branch, in order to destabilize the Iranian
regime. According to the article, written by the Pulitzer Prize
winner who in 2004 exposed the scandal in Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison,
the U.S. support for Pejak has been taking place for the last six
months. Hersh claimed that besides the U.S., Israel has given equipment
and training to terrorist groups to make them launch attacks in
Iran. According to article, Pentagon also has covert relationships with
Kurdish, Azeri, and Baluchi tribesmen, and has encouraged their efforts
to undermine the regime’s authority in northern and southeastern Iran.

Asked whether the U.S. Special Envoy for countering the PKK Joseph
Ralston will visit Turkey soon, Wilson replied, "There’s no visit
planned for now. There should be a tangible reason for a visit."

Touching on a recent controversy when White House security guards
tried to subject Deputy Chief of General Staff Gen. Ergin Saygun
to a body search, Wilson said, "I think Saygun rejected the Secret
Service’s general procedure applied to the visitors when entering
the White House. I’m sorry about the incident."

‘Democrats winning Congress won’t affect relations with Turkey’

Wilson stated that the Democrats winning the U.S. Congress won’t lead
to an important change in relations with Turkey, especially concerning
the Armenian genocide claims.

Pointing out that under the U.S. Constitution U.S. President George
W. Bush is responsible for foreign relations, Wilson stated that the
U.S. president and the administration will continue to exert efforts
to improve relations with Turkey.