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Trilateral road map with Iraq, US ready for steps against PKK
Speaking to reporters following a meeting with Iraqi and US officials in the Green Zone in Baghdad late on Sunday, Atalay, also the coordinator of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government’s democratization initiative, said considerable progress has been made within the trilateral committee -- which was formed in Baghdad in November 2008 by senior Iraqi, Turkish and US officials to combat the PKK -- in the past year. The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by the European Union, the US and Turkey, and its recent activities are widely considered to have harmed the democratization initiative launched by the government, which also envisions expanding rights for the country’s Kurds.
“New concrete actions and decisions that will make important contributions to the joint fight of Turkey, Iraq and the US aimed at the elimination of the PKK were dealt with at today’s meeting.
A road map has been drawn up. All three countries once again voiced their determination to intensify steps aimed at eliminating the PKK. We are fully determined to eliminate terrorism and violence and concentrate our future efforts in this direction,” Atalay said before heading to Arbil on Monday for the second leg of his visit to Iraq.
In Arbil, Atalay was scheduled to visit a joint command center set up by Turkey, Iraq and the US upon a decision made in January. Atalay called his planned meetings with Iraqi Kurdish officials in Arbil a continuation of the trilateral meeting in Baghdad.
 Interior Minister Beşir Atalay met with Iraqi and US officials in Baghdad on Sunday to discuss coordinated counterterrorism efforts against the PKK. |
Iraqi Kurdish media reported that Atalay, accompanied by a high-ranking security and military delegation, arrived at the Arbil International Airport, where he was welcomed by the interior minister of the Kurdish regional government, Karim Sinjari, who also attended the first trilateral meeting in November 2008 along with two other representatives of the regional Kurdish administration in northern Iraq.
In remarks delivered late on Sunday, Atalay said all components of the trilateral mechanism are by now aware of the fact that they are a key element in the international fight against terrorism.
“We have arrived at a more important phase. From now on, [the issue is] the elimination of terrorism directed at Turkey from Iraqi territory -- from northern Iraq -- and the elimination of the Makhmour camp. Parties of the trilateral mechanism are in full determination on this issue,” Atalay said, referring to the United Nations-run Makhmour refugee camp, situated in northern Iraq, where many members of the PKK and its sympathizers are located.
Yet, the minister did not elaborate further on the trilateral agreement as regards the Makhmour camp.
“We have answered the Turkish side’s questions on this camp in detail,” Iraqi National Security Minister Shirwan al-Waili, who represented his government at the meeting on Sunday in Baghdad, was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency. “We are trying to find a joint solution on this camp. We want to close this file, which poses a danger to the security of both countries,” al-Waili said, expressing his government’s commitment to help stop the activities of the PKK.
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