Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Feb 17 2007
Chief of General Staff Büyükanýt: US to `wage a better battle’
against PKK
Turkey’s top military commander said he had the impression that the
US administration would "wage a better battle" in Turkey’s fight
against terrorist activities carried out by the outlawed Kurdistan
Workers’ Party (PKK).
"It is of course not possible to say anything definite about the
struggle against the PKK before we have definite results. However, I
have the impression that the US administration will have a better way
of fighting the PKK. We will take the end result as a reference point
for our evaluations, though," said Turkish Chief of General Staff
Gen.Yaþar Büyükanýt.
Büyükanýt’s statements came following a meeting at the Pentagon with
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Peter Pace and US
Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Eric Edelman.
When asked if he could set a deadline for the fight against PKK,
Büyükanýt said that it is not possible to set a deadline for an
anti-terrorism struggle, noting, "Turkey has been fighting against
terrorism since 1984."
Also, when asked to comment on whether Turkey sees the Shahab
missiles Iran possesses as a threat or not, Büyükanýt said that this
issue wasn’t a topic of discussion during his talks with US
officials, but added that "the Turkish military has extensive
technical information about such weapons."
Upon being asked if Turkey is worried about Iran’s possession of such
weapons, Büyükanýt responded by saying, "Of course, Turkey is
worried. Developments of this nature are bound to trigger fear among
countries within a particular region. It is most dangerous when there
is a likelihood of uncontrolled usage of such weapons."
Büyükanýt’s visit to the US capital follows Turkish Foreign Minister
Abdullah Gül’s meeting that focused on the Armenian genocide
resolution introduced to the US House of Representatives.
As part of Turkish efforts to lobby the US Congress to prevent the
resolution’s passage, Büyükanýt is scheduled to meet with Tom Lantos,
head of US House of Representatives Foreign Relations Committee.
Lantos had supported Turkey’s position on the Armenian genocide issue
in the past, but following the Turkish Parliament’s March 1, 2003
decision that did not allow for the deployment of 62,000 US troops
through Turkey for war with Iraq, Lantos said he would shift his
stance on the resolution.
Turkey rejects the genocide label, stating that 300,000 Armenians and
at least as many Turks died in civil strife when Armenians took up
arms for independence in eastern Anatolia and sided with Russian
troops that were invading the Ottoman Empire during World War I.