France Thursday renewed its appeal to both Turkey and Iraq to "find a solution" to the tensions that have been provoked by the presence of the Turkish rebels in northern Iraq.
Paris "continues to call on Turkish and Iraqi authorities to find an effective solution to arrest the current situation," foreign ministry spokeswoman Pascale Andreani said during a regular press briefing.
"France would like to underline its commitment to the preservation of the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq," Andreani said.
"We would like to condemn the violent activities of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and hail the decision of Iraqi authorities to prevent this terrorist organization from using its territory as a launching pad of its hostile activities against Turkey," the spokeswoman said.
On Wednesday, Turkish warplanes including jetfighters and helicopter gunships bombed and destroyed Kurdish rebel targets along the Iraqi border while Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan Thursday said his government was ready and willing to authorize a unilateral incursion into northern Iraq to root out PKK elements holed up there.
Turkey has long demanded that Iraq stop the PKK from using its territory, cut off logistical support to the group and hand over rebel leaders, something that Iraqi authorities have described as impractical.
According to Iraqi diplomatic sources, the country was expected to send a high-level Iraqi delegation to Turkey later Thursday in an attempt to ease the rising tensions and prevent Turkey from taking a unilateral decision to intervene in the relatively peaceful and semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan.
Source: Xinhua
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