Ankara pursues extension of PKK truce through talks with Washington, N.Iraqi administration

Efforts to extend the self-declared "cease-fire" of the terrorist PKK have intensified in recent days through dialogue between Ankara, Washington and northern Iraq, where the outlawed group is based. Through a new multidimensional action plan including both security and diplomatic aspects, Ankara is trying to negotiate a further extension of the cease-fire, with an eye to making it permanent. In Ankara on Sunday, civilian and military officials attended a security summit to discuss strategies for its extension. In international efforts, meetings in Washington held by National Intelligence Organization (MIT) Undersecretary Hakan Fidan, and talks between Turkey's Ambassador to Baghdad Murat Ozcelik and Massoud Barzani, president of the Erbil-based regional Kurdish administration, have also carried critical significance.