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| Iraq-Jordan | |
| Donât pursue PKK rebels in Iraq, Iraq tells Turkey | |
| 2005-07-24 | |
| AMMAN - Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari warned Turkey on Sunday not to let its troops cross into northern Iraq to hunt Kurdistan Workersâ Party rebels. Zebari told Reuters that US forces in Iraq were poised to capture the rebels, who have been waging a violent campaign against Turkey for decades to win Kurdish self-determination, and have bases in northern Iraq. âThey are in regions outside the control of the central and Kurdish government. If they move, the American forces can arrest them,â said Zebari, himself an Iraqi Kurd. âWe have an obligation to Turkey, and to control all non-Iraqi armed groups and prevent activities against neighbouring countries.â âWe reject any regional military interference in Iraqi affairs, whether Turkish, Iranian or Arab, because it destroys confidence and shifts the focus when our priority is finishing the political process, improving the security situation and providing basic services.â
Although Zebari welcomed US moves to pursue PKK leaders, the rebels command sympathy among Iraqi Kurds, who see Turkey as having persecuted its own Kurdish population. Iraqis are also wary of what they regard as Turkish territorial ambitions, especially in the oil centre of Kirkuk, which was once mostly populated by ethnic Turkmens, and was included in Iraq as part of a colonial deal between Britain and France. Zebari said the Iraqi government was not yet capable of pursuing the PKK using its own forces and had to rely on the United States. âWe have to be content with this arrangement until we complete the build-up of our own security forces to control the situation,â he said. Turkeyâs General Staff says the rebels have crossed into Turkey more frequently and in larger numbers in the past year. It has said they now number nearly 2,000 inside Turkey, carrying out attacks on military targets in the mainly Kurdish southeast. Under Saddam Husseinâs rule, Turkey had a tacit agreement with Iraq that it could pursue the PKK into northern Iraqi territory. | |
| Posted by:Steve White |