Spokesman calls to set up joint committee to follow up PKK’s activities

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The Iraqi government on Wednesday decided to set up a joint committee with the Turkish and U.S. governments to follow up the activities of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) on the borders regions between Iraq and Turkey, the official spokesman for the Iraqi government said. “A high-profile Turkish delegation led by Turkish interior minister arrived in Iraq on Wednesday morning to head the Turkish delegation of the committee. He was received by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki,” Ali al-Dabagh told IraqiNews.com. “The Iraqi delegation will be headed by minister of state for national security affairs and includes Kurdish interior minister and other Iraqi officials,” he added. Since January, Turkish forces have killed 640 PKK militants, about 400 of them in cross-border operations in northern Iraq, according to army figures. Turkish officials charge that about 2,000 PKK fighters are holed up in the autonomous enclave, where they allegedly enjoy free movement, are tolerated by the region’s Kurdish leaders and obtain weapons and explosives for attacks in Turkey. The PKK, or Partiya Karkeren Kurdistan, is an armed leftist Kurdish political party of nationalist orientations targeting the establishment of a so-called Independent State of Kurdistan. Founded on November 27, 1978 with Abdullah Ocalan, also known as Abo, was appointed as its chairman. The party’s fighters exceeded 10,000 in number during the 1990s. The PKK – considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union – has been fighting for self-rule in the mainly Kurdish southeast and east of Turkey since 1984. The conflict has claimed some 44,000 lives. SH (S) 1