Iraq to Deal With Kurds Attacking Turkey

Iraq and Turkey reached agreement Wednesday in Ankara that Iraq’s military would try to rein in separatist Kurds attacking southern Turkey.

Iraqi First Vice President Tareq al-Hashimi told the Anatolia news agency an agreement had been signed to give the Iraqi government a chance to prevent cross-border terrorist activities.

CNN Turk television reported Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had also spoken by telephone with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and asked that Turkish troops not cross the border until Iraq had had a chance to deal with the outlawed Kurdish Workers’ Party, known as the PKK.

Maliki reportedly told Erdogan if that proved insufficient, the two countries could battle the separatists in a joint operation, PressTV reported.

Meanwhile, the Turkish parliament voted in favor of giving troops authority to cross the border, reports said.

Tuesday night, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appealed to Turkey not to send troops into Iraq, which he said was already going through a very difficult and sensitive period, Kuwait’s KUNA news agency reported.