U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Thursday that Turkey's cross-border ground operation against the rebels of the banned Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) in northern Iraq should be short and precisely targeted as possible.
Gates, who arrived in Turkish capital of Ankara on Wednesday for an official visit, made the remarks at a joint press conference with his Turkish Counterpart Vecdi Gonul after their talks.
Gates said Turkish government should make clear to the Iraqi government and everyone concerned what their intentions were and the limited goals and scope of their military operations.
Gates stressed that military action alone would not end the terrorist threat from PKK, saying while it was certainly part of the equation there needed to be simultaneous efforts made via non military initiatives, economic programs and political outreach.
"This is the only way to isolate terrorists from the population and provide a long term solution to the problem," Gates affirmed.
Gates also said there was a growing consensus on the complexity of the situation and underlined that it was necessary to balance the right of Turkey to defend itself with the need to maintain Iraqi sovereignty and Iraqi territorial integrity.
Gates underscored the key for all parties was transparency, cooperation and communication, saying, "The Turkish government needs to be working closely with Iraqi officials including Iraqi President Talabani and PM Al Maliki and Barzani."
Gonul, for his part, said Turkish troops would withdraw from northern Iraq once they had accomplished their goal.
Turkish Armed Forces announced Wednesday that 77 PKK militants were killed on the sixth day of cross-border ground operation in the north of Iraq, which started last Thursday.
In a statement posted on its website Wednesday, the General Staff said that Tuesday's clashes had brought the guerrilla death toll to 230 since the beginning of the cross-border operations.
Meanwhile, five Turkish soldiers and three village guards had been also killed in the operation, added the statement.
The PKK, listed by the United States and Turkey as a terrorist group, took up arms against Turkey in 1984 with the aim of creating an ethnic homeland in the southeast of the country. More than 30,000 people have been killed in the over-two-decade conflict.
Source: Xinhua
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