US President George W. Bush promised Turkey's president Monday
that the US will join Ankara's effort to fight against Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK) operating at Turkey-Iraq border area, the
White House said.
People shout slogans
against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Ankara
October 22, 2007.
In a telephone call with Turkish President Abdullah Gul Gul,
Bush "expressed his deep concern about the recent attacks by PKK
terrorists against Turkish soldiers and civilians," US National
Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe told reporters.
"The president reaffirmed our commitment to work with Turkey and
Iraq to combat PKK terrorists operating out of northern Iraq,"
Johndroe said.
Prior to Bush's telephone talk with Gul, US Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice called Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
and Massoud Barzani, leader of Iraq's Kurdish region, on Sunday,
urging Turkey to show restraint, and Iraq to take action against
the outlawed PKK, the State Department spokesman Sean McCormack
said Monday.
Stressing that the US regards the PKK as a terrorist
organization, McCormack said the best way to solve the issue "is
for the Turks and the Iraqis to work together to mitigate it and
eliminate it."
"We are going to do everything we can to encourage Turkey and
Iraq to work together to address what is a common threat," the
spokesman said.
Turkey has vowed to take all necessary measures against the
Kurdish rebels, including a possible incursion into northern Iraq
after dozens of Turkish soldiers were recently killed by PKK
militants.
The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US
and the EU, 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.
(Xinhua News Agency October 23, 2007)
