Anatolia News Agency, Turkey
Jan 18 2007

Turkish PM warns US’s Burns ties to deteriorate if Congress adopts
Armenia bill

Ankara, 18 January: "We hope that the action taking yesterday at the
Mahmur [Maxmur] Camp is the beginning of a serious effort to close
that camp and to make sure that the north of Iraq is not used by the
PKK to attack in Turkey itself," the US Under Secretary of State for
Political Affairs Nicholas Burns told reporters on Thursday.

After his visit to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Burns
said they had a good discussion with Erdogan on situation in Iraq,
Cyprus issue, Middle East and Turkish contribution in Afghanistan.

"On behalf of President Bush and Secretary Rice we thanked Erdogan
for our alliance and for the excellent work that we are doing
together in Afghanistan and in both of our efforts to try to be
helpful to the people of Lebanon and of course on the
Israeli-Palestinian issue," Burns said.

Burns stated he assured PM Erdogan that the US is entirely
sympathetic for the people of Turkey for the losses Turkish people
suffered because of the vicious attacks by the terrorist organization
PKK.

"What I told the Prime Minister on behalf of my government is that
the US will continue to act to support Turkey. We do not recognize
the PKK. We have acted to try to shut down the PKK offices all around
the world and used our influence. We are looking for a solution to
the problem of PKK attacks on Turkish soldiers and Turkish civilians.
We side with Turkey, we support Turkey," he said.

Asked about the situation in Kirkuk, Burns said they understand the
importance of the issue and how sensitive it is. Burns noted that
they will continue discussions with Turkish authorities on the
subject.

"But it is going to be most important for the Iraqi authority to deal
with this question in the first place," he added.

Commenting on his talk with Erdogan on Cyprus issue, Burns said "we
had a good discussion on the question of Cyprus. We hope that with
the arrival of a new Secretary General of the United Nations (UN),
international community led by UN can continue its efforts to find a
solution to the Cyprus problem. United States will continue to be
actively involved."

Meanwhile, according to sources, Turkish authorities told Burns at
the meeting that bilateral relations would be deteriorated if a bill
on so-called Armenian genocide is adopted in the US House of
Representatives.

Sources said Erdogan expects a clear attitude by the Washington
administration.

Nicholas Burns will continue his meetings tomorrow in Ankara,
including a visit to Turkish FM Abdullah Gul.