TURKEY URGES FOR IRAQI-U.S. URGENT MEASURES AGAINST PKK ATTACKS
Source: Xinhua
People’s Daily Online, China
Oct 2 2007
Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan on Monday urged the Iraqi
government and the United States to take urgent measures to halt the
frequent cross-border attacks by the northern Iraq-based outlawed
Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK).
Babacan made the call while speaking at a meeting held by
American-Turkish Society in New York, the semi-official Anatolia news
agency reported.
"There are two topics that cause uneasiness in relations between
Turkey and the United States. One of them is the Armenian problem,
and the other is attacks of the outlawed Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK)
from north of Iraq to Turkey," Babacan was quoted as saying.
The terrorist attacks posed a very serious threat for Turkey, he said,
emphasizing that Ankara expected tangible steps both from the United
States and the Iraq government on the issue.
"PKK terrorists should be handed over to justice. We expected the
United States to understand importance of the matter," he urged.
The PKK has increased attacks on government troops in southeastern
Turkey, which led to rising Turkish demands for an incursion into
northern Iraq to crush the rebels based there.
The group, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United
States and the European Union, launched an armed campaign for an
ethnic homeland in the mainly Kurdish southeastern Turkey in 1984,
sparking decades of strife that has claimed more than 30, 000 lives.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
