Condoleezza Rice: PKK is an enemy of the United States

PanARMENIAN.Net - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday promised "effective" action against Kurdish rebels who have launched attacks on Turkey from northern Iraq, but she strongly urged Ankara itself to observe restraint.



Speaking en route for Turkey, Rice called the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) a "common enemy" but said its NATO ally should not undertake any action that could destabilize the situation in northern Iraq.



Rice arrived in Ankara for talks with Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, President Abdullah Gul as well as Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who is going to Washington next week for talks with President George W. Bush on how to tackle the PKK threat.



Ankara has warned it will carry out a major cross-border operation unless U.S. and Iraqi authorities crack down on an estimated 3,000 PKK guerrillas who are using northern Iraq as a base to carry out deadly attacks in Turkey.



Turkey has sent 100,000 troops to the Iraqi border, backed by tanks, artillery and aircraft, ready for a possible military incursion. But Iraq and the United States have urged Ankara to refrain from a major operation.



"We have certainly been concerned that anything that would destabilize the north of Iraq is not going to be in Turkey's interests, it is not going to be in our interests and it is not going to be in the Iraqis' interests. That's been the reason for urging restraint," Rice told reporters before a refueling stop in Shannon, Ireland.



"But we understand the need to do something effective against this PKK threat. The PKK is an enemy of the United States just like it is an enemy of the Turks," she said, Reuters reports.



Turkey has numerously threatened with incursion into northern Iraq. In mid-October the Turkish parliament approved the measure providing for a cross-border operation. Presently, some 100,000 Turkish troops are concentrated at the Iraqi border.