TURKEY: U.S. HELPED IN PKK ATTACK
CNN International
Dec 20 2007
ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN) — Turkey’s ambassador to the United States
said Wednesday his country’s air strikes this week against Kurdish
militant targets in northern Iraq were the result of real-time,
actionable intelligence provided by the United States.
"No doubt this was possible because of information provided by the
United States of America," Nabi Sensoy told reporters.
Sensoy said the operations were "tangible results" of enhanced
cooperation between the two countries since a visit to Washington
last month by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, during
which U.S. President George W. Bush promised the United States would
do all it could to help Turkey fight the threat posed by the Kurdistan
Workers’ Party (PKK), including providing intelligence on PKK targets.
The PKK has spent two decades fighting for autonomy for Kurds in
southeastern Turkey, with some of its attacks staged from locations
in northern Iraq. The United States and European Union consider the
group a terrorist organization.
Responding to reports that Turkey didn’t give the United States enough
notice before the attack, he said the United States was informed by
the Turkish military about the operation and the two sides "are in
constant contact."
Although it will take time to assess the damage to the PKK and the
casualties, Sensoy said "there is no doubt" the PKK infrastructure
has been severely weakened.
"This is not a once and for all operation, but I think it has served
its purpose because all targets have been hit," he said. "The ultimate
target is the elimination of the PKK operation."
Iraq’s U.S.-backed government condemned the Turkish raids, saying they
"add insult to injury."
The head of northern Iraq’s Kurdish regional government boycotted
a Baghdad meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to
protest U.S. support for the Turkish attacks.
The United States has been pushing for tri-lateral cooperation with
the government of Iraq, but Sensoy said such cooperation "had not
produced any tangible results" to date.
Erdogan called Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari on Tuesday,
Sensoy said. Zebari told Erdogan that the Iraqis understand Turkish
concerns about the PKK, and that the Iraqi government doesn’t want
the group on its soil.
"This shows we are all speaking the same language that the PKK must
be eliminated," Sensoy said.
But he blasted the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq,
which he said is not living up to its responsibility to crack down
on the PKK.
"The fact is that the PKK presence in northern Iraq could not have
survived in northern Iraq without some assistance of course," he
said. "The regional government must assume its responsibility.
Sensoy added that Turkey was "puzzled" by the Kurdish response to
Turkish concerns, because Turkey was "very helpful to Iraqi Kurds
during the first Gulf War."
"We didn’t get the cooperation we thought we deserved from the
Kurdish regional government," he said. "Our expectations have not
been fulfilled by the northern authorities so far."
He did note that there have been "some signs" of increased
responsibility by the KRG in recent weeks, possibly a result of
US pressure.
Turkey wants the KRG to stop giving logistical support to the PKK,
stop giving the group airtime on its broadcast networks and ban it from
creating "front parties" to take part in Kurdish elections, he said.
Sensoy said that the United States has promised to send an inspector
to northern Iraq to investigate charges that U.S. weapons were ending
up in the hands of PKK rebels.
Sensoy said that Turkish "resentment" toward the United States over
a perceived lack of support on the PKK issue and a House committee
vote declaring the Ottoman-era killings of an estimated 1.5 million
Armenians a "genocide," a sensitive topic among Turks, had subsided
and the two countries remain "friends and allies" that cooperate on
many issues.
He said Turkey was "very happy" with the current level of support from
the United States and was "relieved" the Armenian genocide resolution
didn’t pass the full U.S. House floor, which "diverted damage" to
U.S.-Turkish relations.