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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Iraq's Al-Yaweri Vows Kurd Rebel Crackdown |
| 2004-08-17 |
| Iraq's interim president promised on Monday to prevent Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq from launching attacking into Turkey, apparently hoping to avoid a Turkish military response. Kurdish rebels fighting for autonomy have stepped up attacks in Turkey, officials said, including bombings last week at two small hotels and at a liquefied petroleum gas plant in Istanbul that killed two people and wounded 11 others. There are some 5,000 Turkish Kurdish rebels holed up in the mountains of Iraq, where many among Iraq's Kurds sympathize with their cause. Turkey repeatedly has urged U.S. and Iraqi authorities to crack down on the rebels, and on Monday, Iraq's interim President Ghazi al-Yaweri assured Turkey's president that Baghdad would take action. "We cannot tolerate or allow any group or formation that is posing a threat to the security of our neighbors," al-Yawer said at a joint news conference with Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer. In the past, Turkey's military — which has some 1,500 troops and tanks in Iraq to monitor rebel movements — has made incursions into northern Iraq to wipe out rebel bases and has left open the possibility of a future incursion. In an apparent attempt to avert a possible cross-border military campaign by Ankara, the Iraqi leader added that "good neighborly relations mean not mingling into the internal affairs of the other." Al-Yawer was in Turkey for two days, mainly to discuss security and trade, a visit that came amid a surge of kidnappings of foreigners, including Turkish truck drivers taken hostage this week, in Iraq. But Turkey has pressed the issue of the Kurdish rebels, who have demanded autonomy for Turkey's 12 million Kurds during a decades-long war that has claimed some 37,000 lives since 1984. "I told Mr. al-Yawer that we're expecting a new Iraq not to shelter terrorist organizations," Sezer said, referring to the rebels. After declaring a unilateral truce in 1999, the rebels broke it off on June 1, saying the Turkish government was continuing to crack down on them despite the truce. Turkey has refused to negotiate with the rebels and never recognized the truce. Sezer also expressed concern over Iraqi Kurds' growing influence in northern Iraq, which also is home to thousands of ethnic Turks. Turkey fears that Iraq's Kurds could take over the oil-rich region around Kirkuk, which would strengthen their bid for an independent state — and encourage Kurdish separatists in Turkey to seek the same. |
| Posted by:Fred |