BABACAN: TURKEY WILL STOP NORTHERN IRAQ FROM BEING A TERRORIST BASE
PanARMENIAN.Net
15.11.2007 14:12 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Turkish government is determined to stop northern
Iraq from being used by the PKK as a base from which to launch attacks
against Turkey, Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said Wednesday.
Speaking before a parliamentary commission in Ankara, Babacan said
it must be accepted Turkey still had serious security problems along
its southern borders, as evidenced by the recent increase in attacks
by the PKK.
"We are determined to focus on this problem which has been bothering
Turkey for many years," he said. "We will prevent the north of Iraq
from becoming a shelter of terrorism. Our people’s safety and country’s
domestic peace are much more important than all other issues." Turkey
has the strength and the will to protect itself against the threat
posed by terrorism, the minister said, adding the government was
assessing all measures and taking steps to solve this problem.
Babacan said Turkey’s policy on Iraq was clear, sincere and consistent,
being based on the protection of Iraq’s independence, sovereignty as
well as national unity and territorial integrity.
The recent developments regarding Iraq and especially problem posed
by the PKK’s ongoing presence in northern Iraq had become the focal
point in Turkey’s relations with the United States, with Turkey having
a strategic co-operation with Washington on bilateral, regional and
international issues, said Babacan.
"Our cooperation contributes to both global and regional peace,
security and stability," he said. "It is also important to get concrete
results in fight against terrorism, which is the most urgent item of
our common agenda, as soon as possible," he said, the Turkish Daily
News reports.
Turkey has deployed 100 000 troops at the border to neutralize some
3 500 Kurdish rebels basing in northern Iraq.