Turkey: US to act against rebel Kurds
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has vowed to stop any attacks against Turkey from neighbouring Iraq, Turkey’s foreign minister says.
“Mrs Rice has promised us that no terrorist action against Turkey from Iraqi territory will be allowed,” Abdullah Gul told Turkey’s Anatolia news agency late on Tuesday after meeting Rice in Washington.
Gul said he outlined Turkey’s expectations on US action against rebels of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), who have used bases in northern Iraq to launch attacks against Turkey in their bid for self-rule in the predominantly Kurdish southeastern parts of the country.
“Turkey will not tolerate the upsurge in acts of violence and the infiltrations from northern Iraq. We expect more determination” from the US side, Gul was quoted as saying.
“I saw positive signs from the Americans on this subject,” he said.
Gul is accompanying Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on an official visit to Washington. Erdogan is to meet US President George Bush at the White House on Wednesday in a fence-mending visit during which he is expected to make a new push for US action against the PKK.