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Turkey, Iraq pledge cooperation against Kurdish rebels
2008-12-24
ANKARA (AFP) - The prime ministers of Turkey and Iraq have vowed to step up their cooperation against Turkish Kurdish rebels whose presence in neighbouring northern Iraq has cast a shadow over relations. The thorny issue of rebels from the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) taking shelter in Iraqi mountains along the border was at the centre of talks during a brief visit to Ankara by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. "We should not allow terrorist organisations, in particular the PKK, to weaken our relations," Maliki said during a working lunch with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which followed a meeting with President Abdullah Gul. Erdogan said the fight against "terrorism" was a common issue for the neighbouring nations. "Our joint fight will continue," he said. Maliki later told reporters that a mechanism of three-way talks between Iraq, Turkey and the United States, set up last month, was tasked with doing "what is necessary... against any activities by the PKK." "We have a common understanding that it is a terrorist organisation," he said. Hundreds of militants from the PKK are holed up the mountains of northern Iraq, which they use as a launching pad for cross-border attacks on Turkish targets. Turkish warplanes have since last year bombed rebel hideouts in the region. Ankara has often accused the Iraqi Kurds, who run an autonomous administration in northern Iraq, of tolerating and even aiding the rebels. But in a policy shift earlier this year, it said it would seek to resolve the issue through diplomacy and intensified contacts with the Iraqi Kurds, whom it had long snubbed. Iraqi Kurds are now included in the three-way talks. A senior Turkish official said Wednesday Ankara "sees signs" that the Iraqi Kurds are willing to cooperate against the PKK. The three-way cooperation has so far focused on intelligence-sharing to counter the PKK and curb the militants' logistic means, he said, adding that a sub-committee was already functioning in Baghdad. On the eve of Maliki's visit, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, gave fresh assurances that both Baghdad and the Kurdish administration of northern Iraq were determined to purge the region of the PKK. "We, the Iraqi Kurds, will no longer allow armed people from any Kurdish group to use our territory to carry out attacks on Turkey or Iran," Talabani said in an interview with Turkey's Aksam daily. He said Kurdish parties in northern Iraq would soon convene a meeting to issue a joint appeal to the PKK to abandon its armed struggle. Talabani said relations with Turkey were of "strategic" importance, adding that all Iraqi groups were "irked by the PKK attacks against Turkey" and shared "an absolute understanding" on improving ties with Ankara. The PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Ankara and much of the international community, took up arms for self-rule in Turkey's Kurdish-majority southeast in 1984, sparking a conflict that has claimed about 44,000 lives. Maliki's agenda in Ankara included also discussions on economic cooperation, including projects for Turkish companies to take part in the construction of power plants in Iraq and the establishment of a free trade zone at the Turkish-Iraqi border, a Turkish diplomat said. Maliki was accompanied by his ministers of trade, electricity and public works. Iraqi officials have said Maliki will also visit Iran this week. Kurdish militants from PKK's sister group in Iran, PJAK, are also based in northern Iraq.
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