US hopes PKK problem will end before US withdrawal

Jeffrey held a breakfast meeting with a group of journalists at his residence in Ankara yesterday during which he spoke in Turkish.

During the meeting, Jeffrey stated that as a sovereign nation, it is up to Turkey to decide how to handle its relations with third countries, but added that Turkey's very close ties with Syria in addition to its currently strained relations with Israel complicate its role as a mediator between the two countries. “If you want to play the mediation role, then you have to maintain your relations with both countries on an equal footing,” he said. Upon a question about the latest row between Turkey and Israel over Turkey's decision to exclude Israel from the Anatolian Eagle multinational exercises as well as over a Turkish state television drama about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Jeffrey said the US has been engaging in an intensive effort to convince the new Israeli government to work toward peace with the Palestinians, i.e., Muslims.

“We tell the Israelis that ‘when you take a step toward peace, the Muslims will follow suit.' We ask the Israelis to take risks for this. To convince Israel, we have to cite positive examples, such as Turkish [Muslim]-Israeli relations. But the bad example in Turkish-Israeli relations has been making the job of the US to achieve peace harder. We can, however, convince Israel to take steps toward peace with Muslims if Turkish-Israeli relations are good,” he said. “We do not want to criticize, but this is the case,” he added.

PKK and US troop withdrawal

Recalling that US troops will complete their withdrawal from Iraq by December 2011, Jeffrey stated that time is running out and therefore the US hopes that the PKK issue will be resolved by then.

Jeffrey reaffirmed US support for Turkey's cross-border operations into northern Iraq to pursue PKK terrorists. Jeffrey indicated that supply of real-time intelligence from the US to Ankara as well as Washington's latest decision to seize the assets of three PKK members while declaring them narcotic smugglers are just two examples of Washington's support for Ankara in its fight against the PKK.  “We are also telling the Europeans: ‘The PKK has been targeting a NATO member country, i.e., Turkey. Thus you have to take similar steps as the US',” he said.

Jeffrey also said during the meeting that he would discuss some details regarding the US supply of real-time intelligence to Turkey for the first time. Real-time intelligence equipment such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), satellites and U-2 spy planes are very valuable and limited assets for the US and are essential in the fight against al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, said Jeffrey, indicating that gathering intelligence for Ankara shows the importance his country attaches to Turkey's fight against terror.

The US is lending its support to Turkey's Kurdish initiative in a general sense, said Jeffrey. However, he added that this is a very sensitive issue and an internal matter for Ankara. He stressed that the Kurdish initiative is not an American plan.