White House
Supports Ethnic Turkish Terrorism Against Southern Kurdistan
WASHINGTON, Dec 18, 2007 (AFP) - The White House on Tuesday declined to object
to a reported Turkish incursion targeting Kurdish fighters in Southern
Kurdistan, citing what it called "conflicting" information about the raid.
Spokeswoman Dana Perino called the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) fighters "a
threat" to Turkey, Iraq, and the United States but said Washington had urged
Ankara to take "very targeted and limited" action against them.
But she declined to comment specifically on what the office of Massud Barzani,
president of Southern Kurdistan, said was an incursion by around 500 Turkish
soldiers. Turkey has declined to confirm the strike.
"Since there are conflicting reports, let's wait and see what is actually
happening on the ground there before we comment. We have asked Turkey to keep
the operations very targeted and limited," said Perino.
"I think we should wait until there's more concrete information from the ground
in terms of how far the incursion was, how many people, who all was involved,"
said the spokeswoman.
"I can tell you that of course we are coordinating with the Turkish and Iraqi
authorities in the area. The PKK is a threat to Turkey, to Iraq, and to the
United States. So we continue to share information, share intelligence, with
them (Turkish and Iraqi authorities)," said Perino.
"The Turks have moved forward with our coordination and in communication with
the Iraqis in order to eradicate that threat," the spokeswoman said.
