KurdistanObserver.com
Rice Presents
US's View of 3-Way Talks Against PKK
Turkish Zaman Mar 1, 2007
US Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice has signaled a change in US perception of the three-way
mechanism formed by the US, Turkey and Iraq to fight Kurdistan Workers' Party
(PKK).
Rice, while talking
about Ankara's recent criticisms that the three-way mechanism was “not working
productively,” noted recent moves to bring about talks in the region according
to this mechanism were “actually....talks between the Iraqi Kurds, the Turks,
and the Iraqi administration, while we assist.”
Speaking before the US Senate Appropriations
Committee two days ago, Rice responded to a question from US Sen. Wayne Allard,
R-Colo., about whether the reports that talks were occurring between Iraqi Kurds
and the Turks were true.
“Yes, Senator. And this is in connection with
the PKK, which is on our list of terrorist groups. The PKK, which is active on
the border between Turkey and Kurdistan, is responsible for attacks inside
Turkey,” Rice said. Her labeling of the Kurdish section of Iraq as “Kurdistan”
has drawn particular attention, coming on the heels of Iraqi Kurdish leader
Massoud Barzani's comment earlier this week that “Turkey should accustom itself
to the idea of an independent Kurdistan.”
Rice's description of a diminished role for the
US in the three-way commission came during her explanation to Senate
Appropriation Committee members of why the mechanism was originally formed: “We
formed, along with the Turks, a three-way commission meant to struggle against
the PKK problem because neither the US nor the Iraqi administration want attacks
on Turkish soil to be taking place from Iraqi soil. For this reason, when you
talk about meetings, what this actually means is talks between the Iraqi Kurds,
the Turks, and the Iraqi administration, while we assist. To help carry this out
we have special representative retired General [Joseph] Ralston. This is in
order to do what we can to reduce PKK attacks on Turkish land.”
The three-way mechanism touched on by Rice before the Senate committee was
formed in a coordinated effort by the US, Turkey, and the Iraqi government.
Meanwhile, speaking before a different US
Senate committee, the newly appointed US Director of National Intelligence Mike
McConnell indicated his doubts to Senate members about Ankara's willingness to
sit on the sidelines and watch if an independent Kurdistan were to be formed.
Retired Gen. McConnell told the Senate Armed
Services Committee, when asked whether he thought Turkey would decide not to go
to war if an independent Kurdish government were formed, said, “In my opinion,
no.”
McConnell also told the Senate committee
members that he felt Iraq's neighboring Sunni countries would be pushed to
interfere in Iraq if the Sunni minority in Iraq were subject to violence and
massacre.
