Turkey urges Iraqi Kurds to stick t

[kurdeng at aps.nl]

Subject: Turkey urges Iraqi Kurds to stick to ceasefire

; Thu, 28 Sep 1995 23:29:46 -0800


ANKARA, Sept 27 (Reuter) - Turkey has urged rival Iraqi Kurdish groups to stick
with a ceasefire called last month to end fighting that killed 3,000 people in
northern Iraq, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.

A delegation from the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) arrived in Turkey on
Monday on the way back from U.S.-mediated talks in Dublin and held a meeting
with Turkish officials, ministry spokesman Nurettin Nurkan said. "We impressed
upon the delegation the importance we give to the ceasefire being made
permanent and to the protection of the peace and stability in northern Iraq,"
he said.

The KDP and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), with a history of rivalry
going back to the 1960s, agreed to a ceasefire and exchange of prisoners at
U.S.-brokered talks in the town of Drogheda, near Dublin, last month.

In a second meeting in Dublin two weeks ago, the Iraqi Kurds expressed
continued commitment to the ceasefire but failed to reach agreement on other
issues.

Nurkan said Turkish officials had asked the KDP to prevent the Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK) rebels, fighting a separatist insurgency in Turkey, from
building bases in northern Iraq and also to ensure the protection of Iraq's
territorial integrity.

Ankara, which says the Iraqi Kurds' infighting allows PKK to operate from
northern Iraq, is closely following the talks in Ireland.

About 3,000 people have been killed in fighting between the Kurdish groups
in northern Iraq in the last year, mainly over the distribution of revenues from
a makeshift oil trade run by the KDP and the status of the main city of Arbil,
which is held by PUK.


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 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)