Talks with Iraqi Kurds related to anti-terrorism: Turkish FM
6/5/2008 16:23
Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said yesterday that dialogue with the
Iraqi government and the regional administration in northern Iraq would be
closely related to their concrete action against the outlawed Kurdish Workers'
Party (PKK), the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported. Babacan made
such remarks in a joint press conference after a tete-a-tete meeting with the
visiting United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdallah bin Zayid
al-Nuhayyan. "Turkey would continue to hold dialogue with both Iraqi
government and the regional administration in the north of Iraq," said Babacan,
adding that the level and the frequency of dialogue would depend on concrete
action of the Iraqi Kurds against the PKK. Ankara has been pressing for the
Iraqi Kurds' support in their action against the PKK, whose militants use bases
in the northern Iraq to launch attacks across the border. Mentioning a
meeting between Turkish officials and regional administration in northern Iraq
held last week in Baghdad, Babacan said that the talks were quite positive and
fruitful, adding that Turkish officials made it clear to all parties in Iraq
that Turkey wants peace and stability in the region. "Closer dialogue will
continue with both the central government of Iraq and the regional
administration in the north of Iraq on fight against the PKK, energy and trade
issues in the future," Babacan noted. Last week, a Turkish delegation, led by
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Chief Adviser Ahmet Davutoglu, met
with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki and the Prime
Minister of the Kurdish administration in north of Iraq Necirvan Barzani. The
PKK, listed by the United States and Turkey as a terrorist group, took up arms
against Turkey in 1984 with the aim of creating an ethnic homeland in the
southeast. More than 30,000 people have been killed in the over-two-decade
conflict.
Xinhua
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