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Iraqi FM vows to help Turkey in fightting Kurdish rebels
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Source: CCTV.com | 10-24-2007 09:20
Special Report: Iraq in Transition |
Turkey's Foreign Minister Ali Babacan (R) shakes hands with his Iraqi counterpart Hoshyar Zebari during a meeting at the Iraqi foreign affairs ministry in Baghdad, October 23, 2007. Iraq, anxious to avert a Turkish military strike into its territory, pledged on Tuesday to rein in Kurdish separatists who are launching attacks on Turkey from northern Iraq. Zebari, after crisis talks in Baghdad with Babacan, said Iraq would restrict the movement of PKK rebels and target their funding. (Reuters)
Iraq's Foreign Minister is promising to help Turkey crack down on the banned Kurdish Workers' Party which is taking refuge in northern Iraq. Hoshyar Zebari made the comment after meeting with his Turkish counterpart.
At a joint news conference in Baghdad, Zebari reassured the Turkish foreign minister that his government would actively help Turkey fight the rebel group.
Hoshyar Zebari said, "We have a common position to fight terrorism wherever it is,we will not allow any party or any group, including the PKK, to poison our bilateral relations".
Babacan rejected any offer of a ceasefire by the PKK. The group operates from bases in the mountainous border area in northern Iraq.
But Babacan insisted that Ankara did not want the friendly relationship it enjoys with Iraq to be ruined by rebel organizations.
Babacan said, "Turkey's a country which respects and defends the political unity of Iraq, the territorial integrity of Iraq. These are matters of principle for us. On the other hand, fighting against terrorism is another matter of principle for us, and these two principles are not conflicting with each other. "
Babacan's statement came as the build-up of troops along Turkey's border with Iraq continued with military helicopters airlifting commando units into the area overnight.
The stepped up diplomatic activity followed Sunday's rebel ambush near the Iraqi border that left 12 Turkish soldiers dead, 16 wounded and eight missing.
