TURKEY: U.S Secretary of state Condoleezza Rice arrives in Turkey, promises more action against Kurdish rebels

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrives in Turkey for talks on Iraq and meets Turkey's prime minister, president and foreign minister. At a news conference she promises more action against Kurdish rebels. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, arrived in Turkey on Friday (November 2) promising "effective" action against Kurdish rebels launching attacks on Turkey from northern Iraq. Ankara has warned it will carry out a major cross-border operation unless U.S. and Iraqi authorities fulfil pledges to crack down on an estimated 3,000 PKK guerrillas using northern Iraq as a base to carry out deadly attacks in Turkey. Turkey, a NATO member with the alliance's second biggest army, has sent up to 100,000 troops to the Iraqi border but Iraq and the United States have urged Ankara to refrain from a major operation. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he would discuss a possible border operation in northern Iraq, not a war, during his meeting with Rice. Erdogan is under pressure to act as the military and much of public opinion doubt Washington or Baghdad will crack down on the PKK; nor do they expect firm action from Masoud Barzani, the head of the Kurdish semi-autonomous region of northern Iraq. 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. The United States and the European Union, like Turkey, brand the PKK as a terrorist group. Security was high in the Turkish capital as well as in Istanbul in preparation for Rice's three-day visit. In Ankara, large numbers of riot police patrolled the streets and armoured personnel carriers lined some roads. In Istanbul, police barriers were erected around the hotel where ministers will meet later on Friday while security guards searched all the cars driving to the venue. Rice went on to meet Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan. At a joint news conference with Babacan, Rice called the militants a "common enemy." But she did not spell out what Washington might do to stop them using Iraq as a base for attacks on Turkey, where they seek an independent Kurdish state. "This is going to take persistence. It is going to take commitment. It is a difficult process. Rooting out terrorism is hard. We are learning that all around the world. But with commitment and persistence, I'm certain that we will be able to make progress and we want to do so in a way that improves the progress in a stable and democratic Iraq on the border with Turkey. Because ultimately as my Turkish colleagues have said many times, a unified and stable Iraq is very much in Turkey's as well as the interest of the region," Rice told the news conference. After talks with Erdogan, Babacan and President Abdullah Gul in Ankara, Rice met with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in Istanbul. Turkey, a NATO member with the alliance's second-biggest army, has sent up to 100,000 troops to the Iraqi border, backed by tanks, artillery and aircraft. Nearly 40,000 people have been killed since the PKK took up its armed struggle for Kurdish self-rule in southeast Turkey in 1984. Rice said there would be further discussions about the PKK at a meeting between herself and ministers from Turkey and Iraq on Saturday (November 3). Nearly 40,000 people have been killed since the PKK took up its armed struggle for Kurdish self-rule in southeast Turkey in 1984.

ITN Source | November 3, 2007

Tags:. .pressure. .northern. .opinion. .guards. .commitment