AMMAN, 25 July 2005 — Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari warned Turkey yesterday against military incursions to pursue Kurdistan Workers Party rebels using northern Iraq as a base, saying this could destabilize Iraq.
Zebari told Reuters US forces in Iraq were poised to capture the rebels, who have waged a violent campaign against Turkey to win Kurdish self-determination for decades.
“They are in regions outside the control of the central and Kurdish government. If they move the American forces could arrest them. We have an obligation to Turkey, and to control all non-Iraqi armed groups and prevent them from activities against neighboring countries,” he said.
“We refuse any regional military interference in Iraqi affairs, whether Turkish, Iranian or Arab, because it destroys confidence and shifts the focus when our priority is finishing the political process, improving the security situation and providing basic services,” Zebari said in an interview.
Gen. Ilker Basbug of the Turkish General Staff said last week the United States had given orders for the capture of PKK rebels in Iraq, adding that Turkey had a right to enter Iraqi territory to attack them if no action was taken.
Ankara has repeatedly pressed the United States to act against the PKK in Iraq, where the Turkish military says about 3,000 militants are holed up in the northern mountains in a region controlled by Iraqi Kurds.
The general staff says the rebels have crossed into Turkey more frequently and in large numbers in the past year. It has said they now number nearly 2,000 inside Turkey, carrying out attacks on military targets in the mainly Kurdish southeast.
In the past Turkey has conducted incursions into northern Iraq to pursue the rebels. Under Saddam Hussein, Baghdad had a tacit agreement with Turkey for it to pursue the PKK in Iraq.
Turkey has urged Iraq and its neighbors to tighten border security because of rising violence since the PKK ended a unilateral cease-fire in June last year.
