US COULD TAKE ACTION AGAINST KURDISH INSURGENTS WITH PROPER INFORMATION, SAYS US DEFENSE CHIEF
By Al Pessin
Voice of America
Oct 19 2007
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the United States might be
willing to take action against Kurdish insurgents who attack Turkey
from Northern Iraq if it had good information about their location.
VOA’s Al Pessin reports from the Pentagon.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates, 26 Sept. 2007
Secretary Gates says the United States would like to help Turkey
fight the Kurdish Workers Party, known as the PKK. But it does not
have enough specific information to take military action.
"I think that if we were to come up with specific information that
we and the Iraqis would be prepared to do the appropriate thing. And
if we had information on them in Turkey, that we would provide that
information. So we are determined to work with the Turks in trying
to reduce this threat to the Turkish people and the Turkish army,"
he said.
Secretary Gates’ comment was somewhat different from what other
defense officials said in recent days. They said fighting the PKK is
not a priority for U.S. forces in Iraq, and they lack the troops as
well as the information to attack the group.
Secretary Gates said the PKK fighters are "basically terrorists,"
who cause "harm and heartbreak" in their attacks. `
But he urged Turkey not to take military action in Northern Iraq,
where the PKK is based, even though its parliament authorized such
action on Wednesday. U.S. officials have urged a diplomatic approach,
and praised efforts by Iraqi leaders to work with Turkey to find a
solution to the PKK cross-border attacks. Secretary Gates says U.S.
officials are also urging the leaders of Iraq’s northern Kurdish
autonomous region to take action to stop the attacks.
The secretary says he will discuss the issue with Turkey’s defense
minister during a visit to Europe next week.
Secretary Gates also again warned of the consequences if the
U.S. Congress passes a resolution that would label the Turkish mass
killing of Armenians early in the last century as "genocide."
It now appears that the resolution may not pass, but Secretary Gates
says if it does he has no doubt that Turkey will retaliate by cutting
U.S. access to the key base at Incirlik.
"I don’t think the Turks are bluffing. I think it is that meaningful to
them. I think they see implications in terms of reparations and perhaps
even borders. And so I think there’s a very real risk of perhaps them
not shutting us down at Incirlik, but of placing restrictions on us
that would have the same effect," he said.
Secretary Gates repeated that 70 per cent of U.S. military air cargo
bound for Iraq uses Incirlik, and that a third of the fuel for the
Iraq operation goes through Turkey by road.
The secretary met with Armenia’s defense minister on Thursday, but
he says they did not discuss the congressional resolution.