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WASHINGTON — President Bush on Monday pledged fresh help to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in fighting Kurdish rebels, declaring them "an enemy of Turkey, a free Iraq and the United States."
In an Oval Office session, Bush offered intelligence sharing to help combat the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK. Bush also said top military figures from the United States and Turkey would be in more regular contact in an effort to track the movement of the guerrilla fighters.
"I made it very clear to the prime minister that we want to work in a close way to deal with this problem," Bush told reporters.
With Turkish troops massed on the border of his country, Erdogan is weighing a major cross-border attack against PKK rebels in northern Iraq. The guerrillas have killed more than 40 Turks in the past month in cross-border raids, and pressure is growing on Erdogan to hit back.
The White House worries that a Turkish incursion into Iraq could bring instability to what has been the calmest part of Iraq and could set a precedent for other countries, such as Iran, that have conflicts with Kurdish rebels.
Yet, when asked about the possibility of Turkey attacking Iraq, Bush dismissed the question as hypothetical.
He tried instead to assure Turkey that the U.S. is providing support.
"It's fine to speculate about what may or may not happen," Bush said. "But nothing can happen until you get good intelligence. We need to know where people are hiding, and we need to know what they're doing."
Erdogan said his government has the authority to mount an incursion into Iraq if necessary. But he gave no further indication of his intentions.
Instead, like Bush, he emphasized cooperation with the United States.
"As strategic partners, we are fighting jointly against international terrorism in the world," Erdogan said.
It is widely thought that the bulk of the PKK forces — which traditionally halt operations in the winter because of supply and logistical difficulties — had scattered as far as southern Iraq, as well as melting into the populations of large cities in the north.
Erdogan said in advance of meeting Bush that he was expecting the talks here to result in "solid steps" from the U.S. Their meeting came a day after the PKK released eight soldiers it had been holding for two weeks since their capture in an ambush inside Turkey along the Iraqi border.
Bush noted that Erdogan's government had consulted the U.S. about getting the soldiers released.
"There is at least one effective measure for people in Turkey to see, that when we work together, we can accomplish important objectives," Bush said.
Mark Parris, a U.S. ambassador to Turkey in the Clinton administration and now a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution, said that Monday's meeting would be the last chance for the Bush administration to repair strained relations with Ankara.
"If Erdogan hears something relatively reasonable and concrete, you can put this relationship back together," Parris said. "If not, that effort might have to wait for a new administration."
For weeks, the Bush administration has stressed the need for a diplomatic solution between Turkey and Iraq.
During a trip to Turkey last week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice promised to redouble efforts against the PKK. But her Turkish counterpart, Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, made clear his government was not satisfied.
Following a meeting in Istanbul with Iraqi officials including Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki during a conference on Iraq, Rice won a pledge that Iraq would step up efforts to fight PKK terrorism. Later Saturday, Iraqi Kurd authorities shut down the Irbil and Sulaimaniyah offices of the Kurdistan Democratic Solution party, an organization that allegedly had close ties to Kurdish guerrillas.
But Turkey was still looking for more from the United States.
"I am expecting that this trip will result with the United States ... taking solid steps," Erdogan said Saturday prior to leaving Turkey for Washington.
The intensity of Turkey's demands on the PKK has risen as hit-and-run raids by the rebels and other fighting have left dozens of soldiers and civilians dead in recent month. The skirmishes were the latest in a conflict that has seen nearly 40,000 people killed.
© 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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TurkiyeAsma - Regions: United States , Turkey , Iraq , Iran , Washington DC
 | Iraq Pledges to Fight Kurdish Rebels | Associated Press | Fri Nov 2 | 0 |
 | Rice: 'Pkk An Enemy Of The Us' | AL JAZEERA | Fri Nov 2 | 7 |
| Turkish Troops Poised on Iraq Border | Associated Press | Tue Nov 6 | 0 |
| Iraq Pledges to Fight Kurdish Rebels | Associated Press | Fri Nov 2 | 0 |
| Turks Demand Action, Not Words | mcclatchydc.com | Sat Nov 3 | 4 |
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{"commentId":1157911,"authorDomain":"paperdragon"}
The PKK, which has fought for autonomy for Turkish Kurds since 1984,
Makes them sound almost respectable. The problem is that it's complete bull@!$%#.
The PKK has "fought" for secession, not autonomy, and they did so by bombing civilian, as well as military targets. It was only three years ago that Ocalan, the PKK leader, started talking about autonomy... and that after being thrown in prison for life.
{"commentId":1157911,"threadId":"171592","contentId":"1073745","authorDomain":"paperdragon"}
- 1 vote
#1 - Mon Nov 5, 2007 5:43 AM EST{"commentId":1159674,"authorDomain":"ratigan"}
WASHINGTON - President Bush on Monday pledged fresh help to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in fighting Kurdish rebels, declaring them "an enemy of Turkey, a free Iraq and the United States."
Man, that stuff scares me so much. I read it and literally grabbed my hair and screamed (quietly) "NOOOOO!!!!"
These guys are almost definitely terrorists. I don't particularly doubt that. But this is so clearly not our fight (and not at all clear which side is the "good guys"), that any declaration is foolish.
This is no good in a big way.
{"commentId":1159674,"threadId":"171592","contentId":"1073745","authorDomain":"ratigan"}
- 1 vote
#2 - Mon Nov 5, 2007 5:06 PM EST{"commentId":1159712,"authorDomain":"paperdragon"}
But this is so clearly not our fight (and not at all clear which side is the "good guys"), that any declaration is foolish.
It most certainly is our fight, and it's very clear who the good guys are.
This is a group of Turkish terrorists of Kurdish ethnicity, attacking targets in Turkey from bases just over the border in Iraq. Why do they have bases in Iraq? Because when we deposed Saddam Hussein it left a power vacuum which allowed them to go into Iraq. No one to stop them.
Why should we help? Because Turkey is our ally. Because Turkey is a fellow NATO member. Because 70% of our supplies and 30% of our fuel for Iraq and Afghanistan come through Turkey. Because the PKK are terrorists, and we're supposedly fighting terrorism. Because we've been promising to help for 4 years but haven't. And because we won't let Turkey do it themselves, like they want to.
{"commentId":1159712,"threadId":"171592","contentId":"1073745","authorDomain":"paperdragon"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":1159728,"authorDomain":"ratigan"}
Whoa. First of all you have to accept that these Kurds have legitimate gripes. I don't think they should respond by killing civilians or any sort of violence, but this is about a distinct people who are the victim of European, ambivalent line-drawing. This is the Yugoslavia of the new millenium. Fighting terrorism must also include destroying the reason for terrorism, which is oppression. The Turks may be our allies, but so are the Pakistanis. That doesn't mean we should help them in Kashmir.
And because we won't let Turkey do it themselves, like they want to.
This is a rationale, I admit, I did not consider and may be strong. If we get involved, we're a party when it comes time for peace and we're there when the Turkish army starts thinking genocide. Those are fair reasons to be involved. But I'm not sure we should be making enemies of the Kurds, who are, presently, on our side. How many fights can we keep going at one time?
{"commentId":1159728,"threadId":"171592","contentId":"1073745","authorDomain":"ratigan"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":1159883,"authorDomain":"paperdragon"}
Ah, but what you don't realize is that tjhis has very little to do with the Kurds.
Turkey is not looking to invade Iraqi Kurdistan, only the PKK bases - and the PKK are Turkish citizens. This is essentially a domestic terrorism issue that only became international when the PKK fled to Iraq and set up bases there. They had tried doing it before when Saddam Hussein was in power, but Turkey signed a treaty with Hussein that allowed them to go up to 75 miles into Iraq in pursuit of these guys. Taking Saddam out made it possible for the PKK to jump the border.
It's also nothing new. The PKK formed in the late 70's and started planting bombs around Turkey in 1984. 37,000 people have died in this conflict. Turkey has every right to defend themselves from these terrorists, and would do so if Washington would let them.
{"commentId":1159883,"threadId":"171592","contentId":"1073745","authorDomain":"paperdragon"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":1159934,"authorDomain":"djehuty"}
Ah, but what you don't realize is that tjhis has very little to do with the Kurds.
It perhaps should have little to do with them, but the reality of war is that the Iraqi kurds may well be drawn into the conflict if Turkey invades. Even if the Iraqi Kurds had no sympathy for those from over the border who speak their language there's a good chance the PKK is in amongst them and can't be easily distinguished. Think how it's going to go... such an operation would be fraught with difficulty if carried out with US help and Iraqi cooperation.
{"commentId":1159934,"threadId":"171592","contentId":"1073745","authorDomain":"djehuty"}
{"commentId":1159947,"authorDomain":"ratigan"}
Turkey has every right to defend themselves from these terrorists, and would do so if Washington would let them.
Do the Kurds have the right to fight oppression by the Turks?
Here's a Paine quote:
"He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself."
Again, I think you've got the wrong end of the stick in this fight between the Kurds and the Turks (and so does Washington).
That said, I will not claim that I know too much about this, but I am wary of your presentation of the facts.
{"commentId":1159947,"threadId":"171592","contentId":"1073745","authorDomain":"ratigan"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":1160644,"authorDomain":"paperdragon"}
I live in Turkey, and it never ceases to amaze me when people talk about the Kurds being "oppressed." The Turkish Kurds have full rights as citizens of Turkey. They vote, they hold office... Turkey has had a Kurdish president.
This isn't Iraq under Saddam Hussein. There the were oppressed. Here, they are not.
{"commentId":1160644,"threadId":"171592","contentId":"1073745","authorDomain":"paperdragon"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":1160972,"authorDomain":"paperdragon"}
It perhaps should have little to do with them, but the reality of war is that the Iraqi kurds may well be drawn into the conflict if Turkey invades. Even if the Iraqi Kurds had no sympathy for those from over the border who speak their language there's a good chance the PKK is in amongst them and can't be easily distinguished.
Sorry, I missed this.
The KRG (Kurdistan Regional Government) initially said the would stay out of this conflict "unless directly attacked." Last Sunday they changed their position, and vowed to seek out and arrest PKK leaders. So, the Iraqi Kurds, or at least their government, came down on the side of Turkey.
Also, the PKK aren't mixed in with the general population. These bases are in mostly uninhabited regions up in the Qandil mountains. Hitting the bases endangers very few civilians, if any at all.
An important thing to realize is that the Kurds in Northern Iraq have a great thing going. They're well on their way to building a nation, and they're not going to let it fall apart over a terrorist group from Turkey, even if they are Kurds. The PKK are a thorn in their side, too.
{"commentId":1160972,"threadId":"171592","contentId":"1073745","authorDomain":"paperdragon"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":1161164,"authorDomain":"ratigan"}
That seems like a fair analysis. But why is there a PKK at all? It can't simply be malcontentedness. Or maybe it can, you live there, what am I missing?
{"commentId":1161164,"threadId":"171592","contentId":"1073745","authorDomain":"ratigan"}
{"commentId":1161374,"authorDomain":"paperdragon"}
They began as a Marxist separatist movement in the universities in the mid-70's. Over time they became more militant, eventually seeking, and receiving funds from the USSR and supporters in Europe which they used to arm themselves. The violence began in 1984.
Their goal, up until three years ago, was to split southeastern Turkey off into a new, Kurdish nation. That changed when their leader, Abdullah Ocalan, already in prison for life (Turkey has no death sentence) rethought his position and decided that autonomy was a better goal. Didn't really change anything, though, in fact the violence has escalated in the last few years.
{"commentId":1161374,"threadId":"171592","contentId":"1073745","authorDomain":"paperdragon"}
{"commentId":1161392,"authorDomain":"ratigan"}
That certainly puts a different complexion on it. I appreciate that.
{"commentId":1161392,"threadId":"171592","contentId":"1073745","authorDomain":"ratigan"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":1161401,"authorDomain":"paperdragon"}
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