The US did not support the proposal that Turkey might launch a military strike into Iraq, Tom Casey, deputy spokesman of the US Department of State, told a press briefing in Washington.
“We certainly don’t think that unilateral military action from Turkey or anyplace else into Iraq would solve anything,” Casey said.
Responding to a question about recent attacks by the PKK inside Turkey, Casey said that the US considered the PKK a real threat and one that needed to be dealt with.
“That’s why we’ve had General Ralston assigned as a special envoy to work on issues related to the PKK with the government of Turkey, as well as with the government of Iraq,” he said. “But certainly the best way to deal with the threat that’s posed by the PKK is through continued cooperation between us and the Turkish government and the Iraqis. And we certainly don’t think that unilateral military action from Turkey or anyplace else into Iraq would solve anything.”
Washington’s position was that the governments of Turkey and Iraq should work together to deal with the challenges posed by the PKK,” said Casey.
“We intend to continue working with them,” he said. We believe it’s important that we all work together on this question, but that means that everything that’s done needs to be done in a cooperative fashion and in the spirit of good neighbourly relations between those countries.”
