FM Babacan said Friday that Turkey expected from a regional administration in Iraq's north to 'take concrete steps' to end the presence of the PKK on Iraqi soil.

New stage in isolating PKK - 10 / 05 / 2008 08:13

Turkey's foreign minister said Friday that his country expected from a regional administration in Iraq's north to "take concrete steps" to end the presence of the terrorist organization PKK on Iraqi soil.

A group of Turkish officials have recently had what the Turkish minister described as "first direct contacts" in Iraq's north after "an intense demand for talks" by the regional administration there.

"From now on, our expectation is that the regional administration will distance itself further away from the terrorist organization and take concrete steps to end its presence in Iraq," Ali Babacan told an interview with the Anadolu Agency.

Babacan said more frequent and high level contacts with the regional administration hinged upon "a shift in its attitude toward the terrorist organization."

"The further the progress we made in these issues, the better our dialogue with the regional administration would get," he said.

Asked whether a lack of reaction on the part of the head of the regional administration after Turkish warplanes shelled major terrorist hideouts on Mount Qandil in Iraq's north, signalled a new stage in isolating the PKK, Babacan said time would tell the future of the dialogue.

"This is a whole new development that we are talking these issues with the regional administration face to face. And if we see concrete progress in time, that would certainly make things much easier for everyone," Babacan said.

The Turkish foreign minister said the terrorist organization had no longer the support of the region's people. "I cannot imagine how an organization can endure when it is denounced by the Arab world, the Middle Eastern countries, the central Iraqi government, Europe and the U.S. as well as the regional administration in Iraq's north."

Speaking on the future status of the oil-rich Iraqi city of Kirkuk, Babacan said no referendum was seen on the horizon for now.

"Unfortunately, Kirkuk's demographic structure is shattered, it is manipulated. And we believe that any step should be taken by a consensus of Kirkuk's all groups. A unilateral decision or a move will bring a disaster for Kirkuk," Babacan said.