( AP ) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice assured Turkish officials Friday that Kurdish rebels based in northern Iraq were a "common threat" and that the United States would help Ankara in its fight against them.
Speaking after meeting with both Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, Rice said she had emphasized that the United States is "committed to redoubling its efforts" to help Turkey in its struggle against the rebel fighters.
"We consider this a common threat, not just to the interests of Turkey but to the interests of the United States as well," she said at a joint news conference with Babacan. "This is going to take persistence and it's going to take commitment - this is a very difficult problem."