Turkey, US and Iraq agree on road map for eliminating PKK from N.Iraq

Interior Minister Besir Atalay met with Iraqi Kurdish leaders in northern Iraq yesterday, a day after tripartite mechanism meetings in Baghdad between Turkey, the US and Iraq to discuss joint measures against the terrorist PKK. Atalay met with northern Iraqi regional Kurdish administration leader Massoud Barzani and Prime Minister Barham Saleh. On Sunday, Atalay said the second session of a counter-terrorism meeting would be held in Erbil, following the first session in Baghdad. Speaking to reporters after the latter meeting, Atalay said they had reviewed the contributions made by the tripartite mechanism and measures taken by all three countries over the last year. "New concrete measures and decisions that will considerably boost joint efforts by Turkey, Iraq and the US to destroy the PKK were assessed during today's meeting," Atalay said, pointing to progress achieved through concrete steps taken by the tripartite mechanism. "Moreover, a road map was developed." Iraqi Security Minister Sherwan al-Waili said on Sunday that he spoke at length with Turkish officials about the Makhmour refugee camp. "We're trying to find a joint solution for this camp," al-Waili said. "We want to close it, as it poses a threat to the security of both countries." Speaking to reporters after his meetings in Baghdad and Erbil, Atalay said his talks would have greatly help steps to eliminate the terrorist PKK. "I believe Turkey's cooperation with Iraq would take on a new dimension and yield results," he said. "I believe that we will see tangible results from our two days of talks. Very strong messages were relayed, and there were serious exchanges of information." He added, "We once again relayed our requests and expectations that further steps be taken to eliminate the terrorist PKK." Atalay said that in addition to Massoud Barzani and Saleh, he met with Karim Sinjari, the regional Kurdish administration's interior minister. "We expressed our determination to put an end to PKK terrorism," he said. "We also explained the steps taken by the Turkish government on the matter. We discussed ways to cooperate against separatist terrorism in northern Iraq."