Jordan Times
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Jordan urges peaceful solution to Turkey-PKK crisis
By Khaled Neimat and agencies
AMMAN - The government on Monday urged a peaceful solution to the crisis in
northern Iraq, voicing concerns over the escalating conflict between Turkey and
Kurdish Labour Party (PKK) rebels.
“We urge all parties to avoid violence and resort to dialogue to solve this
issue peacefully,” Government Spokesperson Nasser Judeh said at his weekly press
conference.
“Jordan is deeply concerned over the deployment of Turkish troops on the border
with Iraq,” Judeh said, underlining the “distinguished ties” the Kingdom has
with both countries.
Turkey is an “important” player in the region, he told reporters, but “we’re
concerned about Iraq’s security, unity and integrity… Although Jordan is mindful
about Iraq’s security, it is also mindful about the security of its [Iraq’s]
neighbours.”
The Turkish parliament has approved a military operation against the northern
Iraqi Kurdistan area, charging that it was a base for PKK attacks on Turkey.
However, the Iraqi Kurdish administration strongly denied this claim.
Since the beginning of violence in 1984 between the PKK and Turkey, more than
35,000 people have died.
Yesterday, dozens of Turkish military vehicles loaded with soldiers and heavy
weapons rumbled towards the Iraqi border after an ambush by rebel Kurds that
left eight soldiers missing and 12 dead the day before.
The military said it had had no contact with the eight soldiers after Sunday’s
clash and said 34 guerrillas had been killed so far in a counteroffensive.
A pro-Kurdish news agency said the eight were captured - a claim that would make
it the largest seizure since 1995, when guerrillas grabbed eight soldiers and
took them to northern Iraq.
A senior rebel commander, Bahoz Erdal, said the soldiers were in rebel hands,
the pro-Kurdish Firat news agency reported.
“Right now, these soldiers are hostages in the hands of our forces,” Firat
quoted Erdal as saying. “Their health condition is good. One of them was
slightly injured but was being taken care of by our medics.”
Erdal said the families of soldiers should not worry about the fate of their
sons.
“We have not harmed them and we will not,” Erdal said.
Later in the day, Kurdish rebels offered Ankara a ceasefire, on condition that
the Turkish military abandons plans for an incursion into Iraq and ends attacks
against the separatist group.
The move, designed to stave off Turkish threats to strike their bases in the
mountains of northern Iraq, came as the White House urged Iraq to do more to
stop the rebels from using its territory to attack Turkish troops.
“We are ready for a ceasefire if the Turkish army stops attacking our positions,
drops plans for an incursion and resort to peace,” said a statement posted on a
website run by the outlawed PKK.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to launch a military
drive into northern Iraq unless Baghdad clamps down on the rebels and turns over
the PKK leaders it accuses of masterminding cross-border attacks. “We are
calling for a peaceful solution and distancing ourselves from violence,” said
the rebel statement.
“If Turkey stops attacking us, the battle will stop and we will start the peace
action. We are ready to start dialogue and we are ready to join the political
process if Turkey give us the chance,” it said.
The statement from the PKK, blacklisted as a terror group by both Ankara and the
West, noted that past ceasefire offers had been ignored by the Turkish army.
The declaration was preceded by Iraq President Jalal Talabani, himself a Kurd,
telling reporters a ceasefire offer would be forthcoming.
Amid rising tensions, Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan assured an alarmed
international community that Ankara would exhaust diplomatic efforts before
resorting to military action.
“We will continue to exert these diplomatic and political efforts with good
intention to resolve this crisis caused by a terrorist organisation,” Babacan
told reporters after talks in Kuwait.
“But in the end, if we don’t reach a result, there are other means that we may
be forced to use.” Washington discouraged Turkey from a cross-border operation
and urged Iraq’s government to move swiftly to stop Kurdish rebels from using
northern Iraq to attack Turkish troops.
“We are obviously communicating with all of those parties, first let me say that
we strongly condemn these attacks, the PKK is a terrorist organisation, we
oppose it, the Iraq government opposes it,” said Tony Fratto, a White House
spokesman.
“We want the Iraqi government to take swift action to stop the activity of the
PKK, we’re communicating with the Turkish leadership, with the Kurdish
leadership and the Iraqi leadership,” said Fratto.
“We thought it was a good sign that Prime minister Maliki sent his vice
president to the Kurdish region to begin discussions, but we want to see
action.... The PKK must stop these attacks,” he added.