Turkish army chief says northern Iraq not safe haven for PKK any longer

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Gen. ?lker Ba?bu?, chief of the Turkish General Staff, said, “the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) has been loosing blood and the northern part of Iraq is no longer a safe haven for it”, according to Today’s Zaman newspaper. Speaking at the War Academies Command in ?stanbul, Gen. Ba?bu? said, “Turkey has been dealing with acts of terrorism carried out by the separatist terrorist organization since 1984. Since then, more than 40 thousand terrorists were rendered ineffective. We believe that recent measures taken jointly by Turkey, the United States, and Iraq against the terrorist organization in northern part of Iraq will yield more effective results in the coming months.” “The terrorist organization has been loosing blood and northern part of Iraq is not a safe haven for the PKK any longer. The PKK lost its capacity to act as large groups in the region. Also, European countries took a series of measures against illicit drug trafficking which forms the main financial source of the terrorist organization,” he said. “We have to maintain our fight against terrorism and the separatist terrorist organization in a determined, programmed and coordinated way. On the other hand, the terrorist organization can possibly stage some acts of terrorism in rural areas and in settlement units in the coming period. Security forces have to take all necessary measures under the laws by attaching more importance to the coordinated intelligence activities,” he said. “In 1993, 1,479 civilians and 538 security officials were killed in 5,717 separate acts of terrorism while 51 civilians and 138 security officials lost their lives in 1,602 acts in 2008,” he said. Gen. Ba?bu? stressed that the determination of the Turkish army would prevent the PKK terrorist organization from reaching its targets. SH (S)/SR 1