Wednesday, Oct 10, 2007

WASHINGTON (AP)--The senior U.S. general in Europe, who also is NATO's supreme commander, said Wednesday he frequently talks with Turkish officers about problems along their border with Iraq, but indicated he could do little to stop a Turkish incursion seeking Turkish Kurds who shelter in Iraq.

Gen. John Craddock, visiting from his Brussels headquarters, said Turkey is a valuable NATO ally that faces a problem along its southeastern border.

"I don't think it's any secret that there's a problem there between insurgents - the PKK - using northern Iraq as a safe haven and the Turks then get attacked across the border. And that's the issue," Craddock told reporters.

"The contentious issue is where are these people at any one time."

The PKK, initials for the Kurdistan Workers Party, has fought for autonomy in southeastern Turkey since 1984. Tens of thousands have died in the conflict, which remains intractable.

An indication of the impasse is that retired U.S. Air Force Gen. Joseph Ralston, appointed by President George W. Bush in August 2006 as a special envoy for the problem, has resigned quietly within the last week. His Turkish counterpart, retired Gen. Edip Baser, resigned in May after a Turkish newspaper quoted him as saying the efforts were going nowhere.

Turkey has conducted two dozen large-scale incursions into Iraq since the late 1980s. The last such operation, in 1997, involved tens of thousands of troops and government-paid village guards.

Craddock's responsibility as chief of the U.S. military's European Command stops at the Iraq border. Iraq is in the territory of the U.S. Central Command, headquartered in Florida.

Considering that, Craddock was asked whether he can "influence Turkey's actions in terms of Iraq?"

"I won't say in terms of Iraq," he said. "I will say that I talk with my counterparts, military leaders in Turkey, frequently, and we discuss issues about their border. And I'll leave it at that."

Craddock spoke of Turkey as a valued NATO ally. He said he works closely with the Turks in his role as U.S. commander to ensure the safety of transiting U.S. supplies for the Iraq war.

"So we've got some responsibilities: one, to ensure that that line of communications is still viable, and we do that, again, with our security cooperation folks that are in Turkey. And then, secondly, from a NATO perspective, we want to sustain the strong partnership...with Turkey which we have valued for years," he said.

Craddock appeared as the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives discussed and then passed a resolution to label as genocide the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Armenians as the Ottoman Empire broke apart around the end of World War I. Turkey has threatened serious consequences in U.S.-Turkish relations if the resolution should pass the full House.

Asked whether NATO would support the Turks in going after the PKK fighters, considering that the group is considered a terrorist organization, Craddock said: "That's a political decision. I will leave that to the north Atlantic council."

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 10, 2007 18:36 ET (22:36 GMT)