US pledges Turkey support
US pledge support for Turkey over Kurdish rebels
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Tuesday, 23, Oct 2007 10:14
The United States has pledged to support Turkey in its struggle with Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq.
President George Bush has spoken to his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul to express his "deep concern" at the situation after the latest bloodshed in the region.
Ankara, which has already gained parliamentary approval for an incursion into Iraq to attack rebel bases, has vowed to respond to a Kurdistan Workers' party (PKK) raid that claimed 12 soldiers' lives and saw eight more kidnapped this week.
Media reports in the US say that the president's offer of support goes beyond diplomacy.
"The president reaffirmed our commitment to work with Turkey and Iraq to combat PKK terrorists operating out of northern Iraq," White House national security council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said without elaborating in reference to Mr Bush's phone conversation with Mr Gul.
Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has already hinted that the option of a joint operation is open to the two countries.
"We may conduct a joint operation with the United States against the PKK in northern Iraq. We expect to work jointly, just as we do in Afghanistan," he said according to Turkey's Hurriyet newspaper.
But Turkish foreign minister Ali Babacan has underlined the message that all diplomatic avenues will be pursued first.
"Our preference is diplomacy but the military option is no doubt a method in the struggle against terrorism," he said before flying to Baghdad.
Mr Babacan is due to meet with Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki and president Jalal Talabani to discuss the developing situation in the north of the country.
Almost 40,000 people are thought to have been killed since the PKK's armed struggle began in 1984.
Although the group has dropped demands for full independence it is still seeking increased self-rule in Turkey's south-eastern regions.