By Xinhua
Washington : The United States said on Tuesday Turkey’s military operation against Kurdish rebels in Iraqis “fairly responsible” while hoping the incursion to be short.
“It’s obviously a situation that none of us would choose to have, but it’s one that the Turks, we believe, so far, have been fairly responsible in moving forward with this operation,” said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino, referring to Turkey’s offensive inside northern Iraq.
Stressing “We do want it to be short-term, and we want it very narrowly targeted,” Perino also said “I’m not going to put a timeframe on it. Obviously, we support Turkey, and we support Iraq.”
“Turkey does have the right to defend itself” from attacks by fighters from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), the spokeswoman added.
The White House has been declining to condemn Turkish incursion in Iraq, saying the PKK rebels are “a threat” to Turkey, Iraq, and the United States.
It was reported that U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates will meet Turkish officials in Ankara Wednesday for talks on the offensive which began Friday.