Iraqi foreign minister set to visit Turkey

Iraqi foreign minister set to visit Turkey

(AFP)

11 October 2011

ANKARA — Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari will visit Turkey on Wednesday for talks on stopping recent surging attacks by Kurdish rebels which have prompting Ankara to consider a land operation, a senior Turkish diplomat said.

“The Iraqi foreign minister will be in Turkey on Wednesday and Thursday upon our invitation as part of a working visit,” the diplomat told AFP speaking on condition of anonymity.

“The fight against terrorism will figure high on the agenda of the talks,” he added.

Turkey’s parliament extended on October 5 the government’s mandate to order military strikes against Kurdish rebels holed up in neighboring Iraq.

A surge of attacks by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) also targeting civilians are piling pressure on Ankara, which has threatened to launch an incursion into northern Iraq by its land forces to root out rebel bases.

Turkey repeatedly calls on the Iraqi government not to allow its territory to be used as a springboard by the PKK for attacks in Turkey, and if not threatens to continue strikes.

Turkish warplanes have bombed rebel bases in northern Iraq several times since August, killing between 145 and 160 rebels, according to the general staff.

The air strikes have threathened relations with neighbouring Iraq, which summoned Turkey’s ambassador in August to demand an immediate end to the attacks after it was alleged that Turkish bombings killed civillians.

Turkey rejected the allegations.

Zebari, a Kurd himself, is expected to hold a press conference with his Turkish counterpart, Ahmet Davutoglu.

The situation at a UN-run camp at Makhmour in the north of Iraq is expected to be on the agenda of the meetings with Zebari, said the diplomat.

Turkey has long been pressing for the closure of Makhmour, charging that the camp is controlled by the PKK and serves as a supply base of fresh militants to the organization.

“This is an issue which is always on our agenda,” said the diplomat.

Zebari is also expected to attend the inauguration of the Iraqi consulate in Gaziantep province, near the Syrian border.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Ankara and much of the international community, took up arms in Kurdish-majority southeast Turkey in 1984, sparking a conflict that has claimed about 45,000 lives.

via Iraqi foreign minister set to visit Turkey.