FM says, new anti-PKK board will be different

Written by Anti-Terror Group

Friday, 21 November 2008

Turkish, Iraqi and US officials discuss Wednesday the set-up of a mechanism to coordinate the fight against the PKK. The three sides agree to hammer out details of the committee within 10 days, say news reports. Turkish foreign minister says unlike previous efforts, the anti-PKK committee formed between Turkey, Iraq and US will work. A permanent committee to be established in Baghdad to coordinate U.S., Turkish and Iraqi efforts to fight the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, will be different from previous mechanisms, said Foreign Minister Ali Babacan yesterday. Turkish, Iraqi and U.S. officials discussed Wednesday the set-up of a mechanism to coordinate the fight against the PKK. The three sides have agreed to hammer out details of the committee within 10 days, said news reports. Previous three-way talks failed to take hold but the latest effort was different because Turkey had agreed to recognize officials from Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region as part of the Iraqi delegation, a senior U.S. embassy official in Baghdad was quoted as saying by Reuters. N. Iraq representative A representative from the regional Kurdish administration in northern Iraq was also present at the trilateral talks, sources say. Turkey has recently taken steps to establish direct contacts with Iraqi Kurdish leaders. At the press conference Babacan said the three sides acknowledged the PKK as a terrorist organization. Turkish diplomatic sources said the decision was important given the presence of the Iraqi Kurdish official at the talks. The planned committee will meet once every two month and be supported by sub-committees, said Babacan. Turkey’s special envoy for Iraq Murat Özçelik is still in Baghdad for more talks, while other members of the Turkish delegation returned late Wednesday, he noted. Meanwhile, Iraq’s National Dialogue Minister Ekrem al Hakim, dispatched by the central Iraqi government to brief Turkish officials about the security pact signed between Baghdad and Washington, said yesterday, he had no knowledge on technical matters. The agreement that awaits the approval of the Iraqi parliament leaves Iraqi airspace to the control of Iraq as of January 2009, which could affect Turkey’s air strikes to hit at the PKK camps in northern Iraq. Turkey’s air strikes have so far come after authorization from the United States. At a press conference in Ankara, al Hakim was asked if the central Iraqi government would allow Turkey to carryout air strikes after taking control of its airspace. "I have no knowledge on technical issues," he answered. At the press conference, Babacan implied that Turkey’s air strikes would not be obstructed once Baghdad took control of its airspace. "The Iraqi government also supported the (Turkish military’s) operations," he stressed. Babacan said the security pact closely concerned the neighboring countries to Iraq, including Turkey, adding that Turkey was sharing its opinion on the document with both Iraqi and U.S. officials.