By Xinhua
Baghdad : Visiting Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan Tuesday rejected the ceasefire offer by the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK), saying there’s no “ceasefire” with terror.
Babacan made the remarks at a joint press conference with his Iraqi counterpart Hoshyar Zebari after their talks over the crisis on the two countries’ borders caused by the PKK rebels.
Babacan, apparently referring to the PKK, said a ceasefire should be reached between two countries or two armies but not with a terror group.
But he pledged Turkey’s respect to Iraq’s territorial integrity, saying the emphasis was still on a diplomatic solution to the crisis.
On his part, Zebari said the Iraqi government will actively help Turkey to remove the threat posed by the PKK.
Babacan arrived in Baghdad Tuesday morning for talks with Iraqi leaders over the crisis of the Kurdish rebels.
He is also expected to meet Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
The PKK, which is on the terror list of US, European Union and the NATO, has been fighting For an independent homeland for Kurds called Kurdistan over an area comprising parts of southeast Turkey, northeast Iraq, northeast Syria and northwest Iran.