USA: President George W. Bush urges against Turkish incursion into Iraq, urges China to meet with the Dalai Lama

U.S. President George W. Bush on Wednesday (October 17) urged Turkey not to launch a major incursion into northern Iraq. He spoke after Turkey's parliament approved by a large majority a government request to allow troops to cross into northern Iraq to crush Kurdish rebels based there. The United States fears a cross-border incursion could destabilise the most peaceful part of Iraq and potentially the wider region. "We are making it very clear to Turkey that we don't think it is in their interests to send troops into Iraq," Bush told a news conference. "Actually, they have troops already stationed in Iraq. And they've had troops stationed there for quite a while. We don't think it's in their interests to send more troops in," he added. Bush said the United States in talks with Turkey and was pressing Washington's message that it understands the concerns about the Kurdish rebel group but "there's a better way to deal with the issue than having the Turks send massive troops into (Iraq)." Late last week Turkey recalled its ambassador to the United States for consultations after a vote in a U.S. congressional committee branded killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks genocide. Bush criticised the U.S. Congress for considering the legislation. "One thing Congress should not be doing is sorting out the historical record of the Ottoman Empire. The resolution on the mass killings of Armenians beginning in 1915 is counterproductive. Both Republicans and Democrats, including every living former secretary of state, have spoken out against this resolution," Bush said. He added "Congress has more important work to do than antagonising a democratic ally in the Muslim world, especially one that's providing vital support for our military every day." On the China-Tibet issue, Bush defended his intentions to appear at an award ceremony for the Dalai Lama in the face of Chinese objections and urged Beijing to open talks with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader China views as a separatist. The Dalai Lama is set to to receive the Congressional Gold Medal, the country's highest civilian honor, by the U.S. Congress in an award China angrily denounced as a "farce" that would hurt relations between Beijing and Washington. Bush, who will attend the ceremony on Capitol Hill in the first public appearance by a U.S. president with the Dalai Lama, said he was going because he supported religious freedom and admired the Tibetan monk and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. "I have consistently told the Chinese that religious freedom is in their nation's interest," he told a news conference hours before the ceremony. "I've also told them that I think it's in their interest to meet with the Dalai Lama and will say so at the ceremony today in Congress," he said. "If they were to sit down with the Dalai Lama, they would find him to be a man of peace and reconciliation." The Dalai Lama has lived in exile in India since fleeing his predominantly Buddhist homeland in 1959 after a failed uprising against communist rule. The Dalai Lama, 72, supports a "middle way" approach that advocates autonomy for Tibet within China and greater freedom to practice the region's unique form of Buddhism. But Chinese officials do not trust him and have accused him of being a separatist. Beijing's rhetoric against the Dalai Lama has been increasing, even though the Chinese government is engaged in a tentative dialogue with his envoys. Bush also discussed the Iran nuclear issue saying "I believe they want to have the capacity, the knowledge, in order to make a nuclear weapon. And I know it's in the world's interest to prevent them from doing so. I believe that the Iranian -- if Iran had a nuclear weapon, it would be a dangerous threat to world peace," Bush told reporters.

ITN Source | October 18, 2007

Tags:. .freedom. .turkeys. .theyve. .religious. .committee