GATES MEETS TURKEY’S DEFENCE CHIEF AMID IRAQ INCURSION FEARS
Agence France Presse
Oct 22 2007
KIEV (AFP) – US Defence Secretary Robert Gates met here Sunday with
his Turkish counterpart amid tensions over Ankara’s plans for possible
strikes on Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq, though no action appeared
imminent.
Gates urged Turkey to use restraint — "not to be confused with
weakness" — before launching a cross-border operation to hit the
bases of the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
After talks with Turkish Defence Minister Vecdi Gonul, Gates said:
"I’m heartened that he seems to be implying a reluctance on their
part to act unilaterally, and I think that’s a good thing."
"I didn’t have the impression that anything was imminent," he added.
For his part, Gonul said that Turkey has plans to make a cross-border
incursion to attack Kurdish rebel bases in Iraq but "not urgently."
He also told reporters after the talks with Gates that there were
"no hostages" being held by rebels of the PKK, listed as a terrorist
organisation by Ankara and other nations including the United States.
On Sunday the PKK claimed to have captured a group of Turkish soldiers
in the volatile region on the Turkey-Iraq border following heavy
clashes that left 12 Turkish soldiers and 32 rebels dead.
Turkey is leaning toward invading northern Iraq to strike at hostile
Kurdish rebels based there — a move vehemently opposed by Washington,
which is fighting an uphill battle to stabilise Iraq.
"A major cross-border operation would be contrary to Turkish interests
as well as our own and that of Iraq," said Gates, who Sunday began
a week’s visit to Europe.
Late Sunday Ankara issued a strong statement following emergency talks
between Turkish civilian and military leaders, chaired by President
Abdullah Gul, to determine Turkey’s response against the rebels
after the deadly ambush on Turkish soldiers in the Kurdish-dominated
southeast.
"Although it respects Iraq’s territorial integrity, Turkey will
not tolerate that terrorism be aided and abetted and will not be
afraid to pay, whatever the price may be, to protect its rights,
its indivisible unity and its citizens," said the statement.
The Turkish parliament Wednesday authorised military operations in
northern Iraq for a one-year period to hit bases of the PKK, which
uses the region as a springboard for attacks in Turkey.
Ankara says the PKK enjoys free movement in northern Iraq and even
support from the Iraqi Kurds who govern the region.
The talks between the US and Turkish defence chiefs came after a US
congressional committee exacerbated the already strained US-Turkish
ties through a motion to brand as genocide the wartime massacre of
Armenians by the erstwhile Ottoman empire.
Turkish criticism of Washington, already under fire for not cooperating
against the PKK, has increased after it emerged that US weapons given
to Iraq have ended up in PKK hands.
Gates’s meeting with Gonul was part of a series of high-stakes meetings
he will hold in Europe on a slew of key issues, including Washington’s
planned anti-missile installations in eastern Europe.
Gates will meet Ukraine’s Western-leaning President Viktor Yushchenko
on Monday and seek his backing for the missile shield plans in the
face of fierce opposition from neighbouring Russia, a US official said.
Yushchenko, who has struggled with challenges from political rivals
more sympathetic to Moscow, has ruled out hosting any US missile
shield facility in Ukraine but has not condemned the plan.
On Tuesday Gates visits the Czech Republic, where the United States
aims to install a radar station as part of the shield against possible
missile attacks from countries such as Iran and North Korea.
"We hope to conclude negotiations with the Czech Republic before the
end of the year," a Pentagon official said.
Most Czechs oppose the plan for a radar on their soil, part of a
system that would also include 10 interceptor missiles in Poland.
Also in Kiev, Gates will sit down with his counterparts from European
countries aspiring to join the NATO military bloc, including Croatia,
Macedonia and Albania, as well as Ukraine.
On Wednesday and Thursday Gates will be in the Netherlands for an
informal meeting of NATO defence ministers, where he is expected to
ask member countries to send more troops to the international force
in Afghanistan.
His tour wraps up Friday with a visit to Heidelberg, Germany, where
the US Army has its European headquarters.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
