Turkey wants action and not words in dealing with Kurdish rebels based in northern Iraq, Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said on Friday during a joint press conference with United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
”We are where words have come to an end and action must begin,” Babacan said following talks with Rice on the threat posed by fighters of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) operating over the Iraqi border.
Rice was in Ankara on a mission to dissuade Turkey from following through on a threat to launch a military incursion against the PKK bases in northern Iraq.
Babacan said their talks marked the ”beginning of a closer cooperation with the US in the fight against terrorism” and added that the US administration would play a ”key role” in combating the Kurdish separatists.
Washington is opposed to any unilateral Turkish action and Rice stressed the need for a combined strategy.
”I think it is fair to say that we believe, the president believes … [that] we all need to redouble our efforts — and the US is committed to redoubling these efforts because we need a comprehensive approach to this problem,” she said.
Rice said Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US President George Bush would discuss the issue further when they meet in Washington on November 5.
She said the US has an ”obligation” to help combat the PKK, but reiterated that Washington, Ankara and Baghdad must cooperate.
”Any actions we take need to be both effective and need to enforce our overall goal for a stable and unified Iraq,” she said.
Turkey has threatened to conduct cross-border military strikes against the PKK if Washington and Baghdad fail to deliver on promises to stamp out the rebel bases.
”The US, Turkey and Iraq … have a common interest in not having events in northern Iraq lead to a destabilisation of Iraq as a whole,” Rice said.
She also called on the regional Kurdish government in northern Iraq to assume its responsibilities on the PKK threat. — AFP
