The United States said Tuesday that it will work with Turkey and Iraq to combat the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which has carried out a series of attacks in Turkey.
"The United States is committed to working with both Turkey and Iraq to combat the PKK. We know the attacks by Kurdish outlier groups are not in the interests of either Turkey or Iraq," National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.
"Iraq and Turkey want to work together on this problem. The most effective and appropriate way is to protect the citizens of both countries," he said.
The spokesman declined to say whether the White House would support Turkey authorizing a possible incursion into northern Iraq, where the PKK militants are believed to be hiding, calling that a hypothetical question.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul vowed to take all necessary measures against Kurdish rebels, including a possible incursion into northern Iraq after 13 Turkish soldiers were killed Sunday.
The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, launched an armed campaign for an ethnic homeland in the mainly Kurdish southeastern Turkey in 1984, sparking decades of strife that has claimed more than 30,000 lives.
Source: Xinhua
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