GUL CALLS ON IRAQ TO JOINTLY COMBAT PKK
PanARMENIAN.Net
24.03.2009 11:17 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ In early remarks before his historic visit to Iraq
for official talks in Baghdad, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said
he hopes to boost ties through a transfer of energy resources and
through cooperation in the fight against the PKK. He said Iraqi Kurds
have clearly seen what winning or losing Turkey’s support would mean
and that it is the PKK terror that upsets ties with Ankara, Hurriyet
Daily News reported.
A symbolic trip, pragmatic agenda President Abdullah Gul began a
landmark visit to neighboring Iraq yesterday, at a time of changing
relations between Turkey and northern Iraq amid calls for increased
efforts to eradicate the presence of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’
Party (PKK).
"Just as we attach importance to and back Iraq’s territorial integrity,
northern Iraqi officials should support us against the PKK terror
in the Turkish territory," Gul was quoted as saying by Turkish
TV channels. His remarks came in response to questions posed by
journalists accompanying him on the flight to Baghdad.
"We are ready for a strategic cooperation with Turkey," his
counterpart, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said.
Gul, who was greeted at Baghdad International Airport by Iraqi Foreign
Minister Hoshyar Zebari and other officials, became the first Turkish
head of state to visit Iraq in 33 years.
The last Turkish president to do so was Fahri Koruturk in April 1976.