(zaman.com) - Positive developments have begun to occur after Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan voiced harsh reactions to the US and Iraqi administrations regarding their stance over the outlawed terrorist organization, Kurdish Workers Party (PKK).
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said they were serious about the fight against the terror organization and would immediately shut down the PKKs bureau in Bagdat (Baghdad), reports Trend.
The headquarters of certain parties, which cooperate with the PKK, in the provinces of Erbil and Suleymaniye will also be closed.
The PKK bureau, located 500 meters from the Turkish Embassy in Baghdad, operated under the name Ocalan Strategic Studies.
Speaking to US daily, The Washington Times, Minister Zebari said he received a very warm, friendly welcome on his last visit to Turkey.
Zebari noted his administration is in complete communication with Ankara and stressed the consensus of measures to be taken against the PKK will be put into practice.
We discussed with the government -- all these issues in great detail. I proposed to them to revive the tripartite committee -- Turkey, the U.S. and Iraq, with a member of the (Kurdistan) regional government, he expressed.
Concerning the separatist terror organization, the Iraqi minister commented, First of all, they are non-Iraqis. Second, this is not the place for them to operate or to lobby whatsoever. Third, there was a joint message delivered to them from Barzani and Talabani, asking the PKK to stop fighting...[W]e believe that these measures will convince everybody that we are in business.
Despite such statements, Zebari maintained that Turkeys potential intervention in Northern Iraq is unacceptable for both the Iraqi government and Washington.
Zebari mentioned that he discussed the PKK issue with White House National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley in a meeting last week as he stressed that PKK attacks escalated after the clashes between Hezbollah and Israel. The only safe place in Iraq is Iraqi Kurdistan, he remarked.
Claiming that they are not seeking an independent Kurdistan, Zebari said they would implement the measures they promised to fulfill.