By Xinhua
Washington : The US has urged Turkey and Iraq to cooperate closely in curbing the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighting for an independent homeland spread over Iran-Iraq-Turkey border areas.
“We are continuing to work with the Turkish government and Turkish military to provide the best possible intelligence so that the terrorist group, PKK, operating in Iraqi territory can be dealt with,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Tuesday.
“Ultimately, what we’re looking for is cooperation between Turkey and Iraq in fighting this terrorist threat. And we’re going to do what we can, as an interested party with good relations with both sides, to make sure that there is an open dialogue and good communication and effective action in dealing with the PKK,” he said.
The US has said that PKK is a threat to the country as well as to Turkey and Iraq, and has voiced support for Turkey to launch attacks on PKK targets in northern Iraq.
The Turkish military has launched several cross-border attacks to fight the separatist PKK rebels, who use northern Iraq as a launch pad for attacks against Turkey.
The PKK, listed by the US and Turkey as a terrorist group, took up arms against Turkey in 1984 with the aim of creating an ethnic homeland in the southeast of the country. More than 30,000 people have been killed in the over-two-decade conflict.