Türkei

[Savas38]

US, Turkey review touchy Iraq, Mideast issues
AFP: 1/3/2005
ANKARA, Jan 3 (AFP) - US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul on Monday reviewed touchy regional issues that have led to coolness between the two countries, including Iraq and the Middle East.

The presence in northern Iraq of an estimated 5,000 armed militants of the PKK, held responsible by Ankara for a 15-year civil conflict that claimed more than 30,000 lives in southeast Turkey between 1984 and 1999, is one of several reasons for recent coolness in ties between Ankara and Washington.

Armitage reiterated that US, Turkish and Iraqi officials will hold three-way talks to discuss the PKK -- acronym of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which is also known as KONGRA-GEL -- whose activities Ankara wants US forces in Iraq to curb.

The US official was speaking to reporters after he and Gul held what one Turkish diplomat described as "comprehensive talks... mostly on Iraq."

Another bone of contention is Ankara's unhappiness with the expulsion from oil-rich Kirkuk of Turkish-speaking Iraqi Turkmens by the Kurds, who in turn were expelled from the area by Arabs under Saddam Hussein.

"There have been many segments of Iraqi society who have had their situation changed by force," Armitage told reporters. "The Turkmens are of course in this category and the Kurds themselves have been forced out, of particularly Kirkuk, to some degree.

"These are things that have to be corrected in the transitional administrational law ... to redress these wrongs for all those who are dispossessed," he said.

"We stressed our concern over Kirkuk," said the Turkish diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity. "We explained that we had serious concerns over efforts to change the demographic structure and said that this could lead to serious problems."

He said Armitage assured Gul that he was discussing the matter with Massud Barzani and Jalal Talabani, allies of the US and leaders of the two mainstream Kurdish parties in northern Iraq, which borders Turkey.

The troubled electoral process in Iraq also came up, the Turkish source said, with Gul stressing "the need to hold the election in the soundest manner and with as much particiapation as possible."

"The minister (Gul) said Turkey was speaking to all Iraqi groups to encourage them to take part in the election. He said the most important group that needed to be worked on are the Sunni Arabs who should not be left out of the election process," he said. "Armitage said he agreed with this view."

Washington has also reportedly expressed unhappiness with a spectacular recent warming of ties between Turkey and Syria, which came to the brink of war in 1999 over Damascus' support for the PKK, coupled with a cooling in relations with Israel.

"It is quite clear that Turkey does enjoy a very congenial relationship with Israel, as well as Syria," Armitage said, but commented no further.

His talks with Gul came just hours before the Turkish minister left Ankara on a fence-mending visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Armitage said he stressed "the window of opportunity that exists with the upcoming January 9 Palestinian election."

"We think that the new Palestinian leadership should be supportive of the revived peace process and make sure that no one resorts to political violence," Armitage said. "Our policy remains that of a search for a comprehensive solution." (TurkishPress)

Türkei drückt sich endlich etwas stärker aus...
Sie drohen selbst in den NordIrak einzugreifen falls in sachen PKK bald
nichts neues passiert.