The U.S. State Department's No. 2 official discussed security preparations for this month's Iraq election during a Monday meeting with Turkish officials, who pressed him to move against thousands of autonomy-seeking Turkish Kurds based in northern Iraq. But with U.S. troops battling a bloody insurgency in Iraq and warnings of even more violent attacks by rebels hoping to affect the Jan. 30 election, the United States has made clear it has no intention of cracking down on the rebels any time soon. "We are going to have, we hope in the near future, a trilateral meeting here to discuss the whole question of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party)," Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said after meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul. He did not elaborate. Turkey pressed the United States to move against the estimated 4,000-5,000 rebels based in the mountains of northern Iraq and considered by Washington to be a terrorist group.
| We're kinda busy right now. How about next week? |
Turkey raised concerns over what it believes are attempts by Iraqi Kurds to try to solidify their presence in the oil-rich and ethnically mixed city of Kirkuk, at the expense of the Turkmen -- a group akin to the Turks, a Turkish official said on condition of anonymity. |