Rice Warns: Turkey Should Not Intervene In Northern Iraq; U.S. Will Do What Is Necessary

In statements she made before the US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said “The past 72 hours have been very difficult. I spoke on Sunday with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and also with the Iraqi Kurds. As we have said before, there must be no place for PKK terrorism that hurts Turkey. Both the Iraqis and the Turks need to make extraordinary efforts.”

On the possibility that Turkey might in fact decide to send military over the border into Iraq in pursuit of PKK forces, Rice said, "The Turks should not engage in over the border intervention. We have warned that responding in this way will affect the stability of the region. We have encouraged everyone to find a solution to this terrorist problem in a way which will not undermine the stability of northern Iraq."

Source: Hurriyet, Turkish Daily News, Turkey, October 25, 2007

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