EU: Turkish border should be secure

PanARMENIAN.Net - Late January member of European Parliament Kyriacos Triantaphyllides from Cyprus inquired the European Commission about competence of the Turkish cross-border operation into northern Iraq.



"Last month Turkey bombarded Kurdish land facilities. Kurds commenced response fire. Are such actions appropriate for a country aspired to join the European family?" the inquiry said.



EU Commissioner on Enlargement, Mr Olli Rehn issued a formal response on March 7. The statements said, in part, "The European Commission condemns the PKK terrorist acts that claimed lives of military and civilian… The European Commission remembers its commitments to help formation of independent and sovereign Iraq… We call on Iraq's authorities to guarantee security of the Turkish-Iraqi border," Turtsia.ru reports



On February 25 Mr Rehn said he understands the Turkish government which was forced to protest the population against terrorism. "The European Commission calls on Turkey to refrain from incommensurable actions and respect Iraq's integrity. We call on the Turkish government to restrict the military operation to fulfillment of the assigned task," he said.