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Iraqi leaders to meet Turkish team on PKK rebels
14 Oct 2008 11:03:54 GMT
Source: Reuters
BAGHDAD, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Senior Iraqi officials will receive a Turkish delegation on Tuesday to discuss renewed attacks by Iraq-based PKK Kurdish rebels into eastern Turkey, officials in Baghdad said.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki will meet members of the Turkish delegation, which includes Turkey's special envoy for Iraq, Murat Ozcelik, and Ahmet Davutoglu, foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, an aide to Maliki said.

The high-level meeting in Baghdad underscores the pressure facing the Turkish government to respond forcefully to attacks launched by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels from their mountain camps in Kurdistan, close to the Turkish border.

Turkey has repeatedly launched airstrikes and shelled rebel areas in northern Iraq after a cross-border PKK attack killed 17 Turkish soldiers earlier this month.

"They are going to discuss bilateral relations and the recent events following the attacks PKK has launched inside Turkey," said Yasin Majid, Maliki's media adviser.

Turkish officials will also meet Masoud Barzani, president of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, at his Baghdad residence, said Fouad Hussein, a senior official in Barzani's office.

The PKK attacks have strained Iraq's relations with Turkey, which accuses its southern neighbour of failing to halt violence from the rebels.

Last week, Turkey's parliament approved a government request that would allow its military to carry out operations against PKK bases in northern Iraq for another year. (Reporting by Ahmed Rasheed and Khalid al-Ansary; writing by Missy Ryan; Editing by Dominic Evans)
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A car burns during clashes between Turkish riot police and Kurdish demonstrators protesting a visit by Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan to the eastern Turkish city of Van November 1, 2008. ...



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