WASHINGTON — The United States has appealed to Turkey to delay its
invasion of Iraq in an effort to destroy Kurdish insurgency strongholds.
Over the weekend, President George Bush telephoned Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Erdogan and urged a postponement of an invasion of Iraq.
Officials said Bush, in his second call to Erdogan in three days, pledged to
intensify U.S. efforts to eliminate strongholds of the Kurdish Workers
Party, or PKK, in Iraq's Kandil mountains.
"They discussed the need to work jointly to address the terrorist
threat," White House spokesman Tony Snow said.
In mid-July, Turkey prepared its military for a major operation against
the PKK. The Erdogan government has concluded that up to 5,000 PKK
terrorists employed northern Iraq to attack targets inside Turkey, Middle East Newsline reported.
On July 21, a senior U.S. official pledged that Washington would take
"more concrete results shortly." The official said the administration would
work with Iraq to help end the Kurdish threat against Turkey.
"Bear with me here for a little while, and you'll see, I think, some
more concrete results [against the PKK] shortly," Deputy Assistant of State
for European and Eurasian affairs Matt Bryza said. "Part of that will come
through the [U.S.-Turkish-Iraqi] trilateral process, but there will be other
ways that you'll see us moving against the PKK."
In a briefing, Bryza urged the Iraqi Kurds to cooperate against the PKK.
The Kurds have been regarded as the closest allies of the United States in
Iraq.
"Without real cooperation of the key parties in Iraq, meaning the
Kurdish regional government and, of course, the central government, most
importantly, in Baghdad, it's very difficult to resolve this problem and
eliminate the terrorist threat," Bryza said. "So, we're constantly
searching for more cooperation with the Iraqi government as well as its
Kurdish regional government affiliate."
In July, the PKK killed more than 25 members of Turkish security forces.
On July 22, two PKK fighters were killed in a clash with Turkish troops near
the Iraqi border.
"Targeting the PKK, eliminating the terrorist threat is a complex
venture," Bryza said. "We tend to focus in Turkey on security/military
response, but any counter-terrorism operation is much more complicated, and
has many levels. Ultimately, it requires winning the hearts and minds of the
potential supporters of those terrorists, involves economic factors,
involves political factors, and yes, involves serious security measures as
well."
