KurdistanObserver.com

Turkish leader demands crackdown in N. Iraq

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 16 (Reuters) - The Turkis government will take "the necessary steps" unless U.S.-led or Iraqi forces crack down on Kurdish guerrillas from Turkey in northern Iraq, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday

Erdogan said he had discusssed the presence of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari on Thursday on the sidelines of a United Nations summit, as well as with U.S. President George W. Bush earlier this week.

"Our expectations about the PKK continue and I can tell you that no concrete steps have been taken so far," he said. "Since the Iraqi security forces are too weak so far, the U.S. and coalition forces should help to act against the PKK."

Asked under what circumstances Turkey might have to take action itself, Erdogan said: "We are doing what is necessary inside our own borders, but if the circumstances change, as we have said, the necessary steps will be taken."

He did not elaborate. Ankara has repeatedly demanded that U.S. and Iraqi forces do something to combat PKK forces around the Qandil Mountain in the far northeast of Iraq, from where it says rebel leaders direct attacks in neighbouring Turkey.

U.S. military officials say they are too tied up fighting the insurgency in Iraq to launch operations against the PKK, which the United States and the European Union regard as an outlawed terrorist organisation.

The PKK has fought for an independent Kurdish homeland in southeast Turkey since 1984. More than 30,000 people have died in the fighting.

Despite a lull in violence after the capture of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan in 1999, fighting in southeast Turkey and bomb attacks in Turkish tourist resorts have increased sharply since the organisation called off a unilateral ceasefire last year.

Erdogan said he had also discussed with Iraqi leaders Turkey's concerns about the draft Iraqi constitution, including on the status of the oil-producing northern city of Kirkuk, which Iraqi Kurds claim as part of their region.