TURKEY: Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad says Syria will support decisions of Turkey in fight against terror

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday (October 17) backed neighbouring Turkey's tough stance over Kurdish rebels operating out of northern Iraq, a stance that has stoked tension between Ankara and Washington. Turkey's parliament was expected later on Wednesday to grant permission to the army to conduct cross-border incursions into mainly Kurdish northern Iraq to crush rebels of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) using the region as a base. Assad, whose country is accused by Washington of sponsoring terrorism, also took a swipe at U.S. occupying forces in Iraq, saying they were the main source of the "terrorist activities" in that country. Turkey is a NATO ally of the United States but anti-American feelings are running high due to Washington's failure over many years to crack down on the PKK rebels in northern Iraq. Ankara also fears U.S. policy in Iraq is leading inexorably to the creation of an independent Kurdish state in northern Iraq, a move which could reignite separatism among Turkey's own large ethnic Kurdish population in its southeast region. Opposition to a Kurdish state has pushed Turkey closer to Syria and Iran, arch-foes of the United States which are also both home to large Kurdish communities. The foreign ministers of Turkey and Syria signed an agreement on boosting economic, political, security and energy cooperation. Despite its frustration with U.S. policy in Iraq, Turkey remains firmly anchored in Western security structures and hopes to join the European Union. It is also one of the few countries in the region to have close security and trade ties with Syria's enemy Israel. Ankara blames the PKK for the deaths of more than 30,000 people since the group launched its armed campaign for an ethnic homeland in southeast Turkey in 1984.

ITN Source | October 18, 2007

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