Iraqi Kurdish Regional President Meets Turkish Officials
By VOA News
14 October 2008
The leader of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region met with Turkish officials in Baghdad Tuesday to discuss the sensitive issue of security along their shared border.
Turkish news media say the Turkish delegation asked Iraqi regional President Massud Barzani to cut support lines for Kurdish rebels operating in northern Iraq.
The Turkish military has been making cross-border raids on suspected hideouts of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK. Turkey says it is responding to a Kurdish rebel raid near the border that left 17 Turkish soldiers dead.
Relations have long been tense between Turkey and Iraq's Kurdish region. Turkey's government has accused Iraqi Kurdish officials of tolerating or even supporting the rebels. Iraqi leaders and Kurdish regional authorities deny the allegations.
Turkish lawmakers recently extended a mandate for the military to continue operations in northern Iraq for another year.
Both the Turkish government and Iraqi Kurdish officials oppose creating a Turkish-controlled buffer zone inside Iraqi territory. The idea has been proposed by Turkish opposition parties.
The PKK has been fighting for Kurdish autonomy in southeastern Turkey since 1984. The violence has killed at least 37,000 people.
The PKK is considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
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