Rice in Iraq as Turkey strikes Kurdish rebels
Iraq-USA, Politics, 12/18/2007

Tom Casey, Deputy Spokesman for the US Department Of State today responded to questions about the frustration expressed by the Iraqi leaders and the Iraqi courts, vis-à-vis to the Turkish military action against PKK, Kurdish rebels in Northern Iraq, and holding responsible the United States of America.

Casey said "I'm not sure what comments you're referring to, Mr. Lambros. I do know that many of you may have seen Secretary Rice's press conference with Foreign Minister Zebari of Iraq in which both the Secretary and the Foreign Minister made clear that we all understand that we face a common threat from PKK terrorism and we certainly want to see all of us be able to work together to respond to it. Certainly, as the Secretary noted, we want to make sure that as any actions are taken that all efforts are made to ensure that there are not civilian casualties or an undue impact on civilian populations. But we all understand the potential destabilizing effect of the PKK in Northern Iraq and all of us -- Turks, Iraqis and the United States -- are agreed that we need to continue to work together on this problem."

Pressed by a question that "the Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani continued the Turkish military operation stated, 'the Americans are responsible because the Iraqi sky is under their full control,'" Casey said "I haven't seen his remarks. I can tell you that the Secretary is in Iraq today and that she is meeting with President Talabani, Foreign Minister Zebari, as well as Prime Minister Maliki and certainly we'll be happy to discuss this issue as they see fit. We also, as the Secretary noted in her comments earlier today, have taken efforts to try and help both the Turkish and Iraqi Governments cooperate with one another on this, as well as working with them in a tripartite way.

"And the Secretary noted in Istanbul recently at the neighbors conference, they all got together at the ministerial level, in fact, to discuss this. And certainly, this has also been a matter of discussion bilaterally with the parties. The President had discussions that in part, focused on this with Prime Minister Erdogan about a month and a half ago as well."

Asked about her visit to northern Iraq coinciding with the Turkish attacks inside northern Iraq, Casey replied that "There's no linkage to this. This is a trip that's been planned for some time. I would note that Deputy Secretary Negroponte during his last visit through Iraq, met with a number of our PRTs and with a number of regional leaders. You know, one of the things that's important that's going on in Iraq now is this on-the-ground or grassroots efforts at national reconciliation and at national development. It's a key part of what our provincial reconstruction teams are doing. It's a key part of the efforts that the Iraqis are doing to help bring better services and better life to the people there.

"So certainly, this was an opportunity for the Secretary to go to talk with our PRT leadership in Kirkuk as well as with local government officials there. And of course, Kirkuk is something of a very significant and important area in Iraq because it is a place where there are differences and disputes among some of the different actors and different ethnic groups in the country and is a place where national reconciliation needs to move forward and we've been pleased to see some of the progress that has been made there, including increased participation in the political process and the political life of the city. There will ultimately be a referendum there in Kirkuk to help decide that region's future and that's something that's very important to all the parties involved.

"So I think this was an opportunity for her to, again visit in the -- in one of the regions, see the work that's being done by our provincial reconstruction teams, among others and also take an opportunity to meet with some of the local leadership. But I wouldn't draw any connection between this trip, which again, as my understanding, was planned rather well in advance, with any of the recent actions along the border."

Casey said " I think it is important for her to have this opportunity to visit not only Kirkuk, but also in Baghdad to meet with the national leadership there and I think it's important that that trip take forward. I don't think that there's any particular problem with it occurring at this time."

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