Maliki says Iraq keen on developing ties with Turkey

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said on Wednesday that Iraq is keen to develop relations with Turkey in different political, security and economic fields. This came during his meeting today with Turkish Interior Minister Besir Atalay and his accompanying delegation. “The premier said Turkey is an important and a friend country of Iraq and what harms Turkey harms us too,” said a statement released from al-Maliki’s office and received by IraqiNews.com. “The visit is an important step towards unifying efforts in combating terrorism and will lay the basis to face the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK),” al-Maliki added. For his part the Turkish minister said “setting up the strategic council during the recent visit of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Baghdad and meetings he held with Iraqi officials will facilitate the cooperation between the two countries.” He reiterated his country’s support to the Iraqi government’s efforts to maintain security and stability in Iraq. Atalay and his accompanying delegation will take part in the first meeting of the Turkish-US-Iraqi security committee which will discuss inter-cooperation among the three sides in fighting terrorism and activities by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in northern Iraq. Since January, Turkish forces have killed 640 PKK militants, about 400 of them in cross-border operations in northern Iraq, according to army figures. Turkish officials charge that about 2,000 PKK fighters are holed up in the autonomous enclave, where they allegedly enjoy free movement, are tolerated by the region’s Kurdish leaders and obtain weapons and explosives for attacks in Turkey. The PKK, or Partiya Karkeren Kurdistan, is an armed leftist Kurdish political party of nationalist orientations targeting the establishment of a so-called Independent State of Kurdistan. Founded on November 27, 1978 with Abdullah Ocalan, also known as Abo, was appointed as its chairman. The party’s fighters exceeded 10,000 in number during the 1990s. The PKK – considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union – has been fighting for self-rule in the mainly Kurdish southeast and east of Turkey since 1984. The conflict has claimed some 44,000 lives. SH (I) 1