U.S. In Diplomatic 'Full Court Press' To Stop Turkish Incursion Into Iraq

WASHINGTON (AP) _ The United States has opened a diplomatic ``full court press'' to urge Turkey not to invade northern Iraq, the State Department said Monday, as tensions between the two countries

Monday, October 22nd 2007, 9:30 am

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) _ The United States has opened a diplomatic ``full court press'' to urge Turkey not to invade northern Iraq, the State Department said Monday, as tensions between the two countries soared following an ambush by rebel Kurds that killed 12 Turkish soldiers and left eight missing.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the leader of Iraq's Kurdish region, Massoud Barzani, on Sunday to press the U.S. case for restraint from Turkey and Iraqi action against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

``We do not believe unilateral cross-border operations are the best way to address this issue,'' he said, describing Rice's call to Erdogan, whose government has threatened military incursions into Iraq to deal with the PKK.

``In our view, there are better ways to deal with this issue,'' McCormack said, stressing that the United States regards the PKK as a terrorist organization.

He said Rice had told both Erdogan and Barzani that ``we are going to do everything we can to encourage Turkey and Iraq to work together to address what is a common threat.''

``She underlined to President Barzani the importance of Iraq working actively with the Turkish government to counter what is a real threat to Turkish citizens,'' he said, adding: ``It's important that there be action to counter the PKK.''

Erdogan said earlier that he had told Rice that Turkey expected ``speedy steps from the U.S.'' in cracking down on Kurdish rebels and that Rice had asked ``for a few days'' from him.

McCormack did not dispute the account of the conversation but declined to comment on what Rice had meant by asking for ``a few days.''

As Rice was speaking to Erdogan and Barzani, McCormack said, the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, was making similar points in Baghdad with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani _ himself a Kurd _ who ordered the PKK to lay down their arms or leave Iraq, and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

The spokesman added that he ``would not be surprised'' if White House officials, including possibly President Bush, followed up the Rice and Crocker conversations with Turkish and Iraqi officials.

``From our perspective this is a diplomatic full-court press,'' McCormack said. ``We want to see an outcome where you have the Turks and the Iraqis working together and we will do what we can to resolve the issue without a Turkish cross-border incursion.''