Bush and Erdogan discuss PKK issue

by Apostolis Zoupaniotis

Washington, (CNA) — US President George Bush and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan have expressed their resolve to combat terrorism in northern Iraq.

“Turkey is a strategic partner and strong ally of America. We had a long discussion about a common concern, the PKK which is a terrorist organization. They are an enemy of Turkey, they are an enemy of Iraq, and they are an enemy of the United States”, said Bush after a two-hour long meeting with Erdogan on Monday at the White House.

The US President announced that they decided to have better intelligence sharing and to this end they set up a tripartite arrangement, comprising their number two men in the US, the Turkish military and the head of the US forces in Iraq.

They made no reference to the Cyprus issue which was expected to be discussed during the meeting but President Bush said that they also discussed “a lot of other issues.”

Asked what would be his reaction if there were a Turkish
operation in northern Iraq, Bush described the question as “hypothetical” and avoided any further comment.

In his statements, Erdogan said that Ankara places priority on intelligence sharing between his country and the US and added that “it is very important for us to work jointly on a diplomatic, political and military level and cooperate”.

During the meeting they also discussed the EU – Turkey relations.

President Bush expressed his support for Turkey’s aspiration to join the Union and according to Turkish sources he pledged to raise the issue during his meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.