U.S. called on Turkey for political solution to PKK problem

PanARMENIAN.Net - The United States wants a political solution, and not a military one, for the problem posed by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) inside both Turkey and Iraq, a senior U.S. official said.



Speaking at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a think tank here, Ambassador Dell Dailey, the State Department's coordinator for counter-terrorism, was asked if the PKK problem could be resolved militarily or if a political solution should be sought. "We have not looked at a military solution as the solution to the PKK. Our preference is a political solution," Dailey said.



Asked if his remarks were for the international problem caused by the PKK's presence in northern Iraq or for a solution in Turkey, he said: "Both in Iraq and in Turkey."



This was the first time a senior U.S. official in on-the-record remarks urged Turkey to find a political solution to its PKK problem, although Dailey did not elaborate on the elements of this political solution, the Turkish Daily News reports.