Turkish president says Turkey is helping Iraq by fighting terrorists in northern Iraq

WASHINGTON (AP) - Turkey's president on Wednesday said his country was helping Iraqi security by launching attacks on anti-Turkish rebels operating in what he called safe havens in northern Iraq.

Abdullah Gul said that Turkey's sole aim in the attacks was to eliminate the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK rebels. Gul, speaking to a group of business leaders, said Turkey respected Iraq's territorial integrity.

Speaking through an interpreter, he said Turkey was helping Iraq's people because «not only are we fighting against a threat to Turkey, but we are also trying to do something that the Iraq government is not able to do at the moment.

Gul and President George W. Bush met Tuesday for talks. Bush said he supported Turkey's efforts to fight the PKK, calling the group an enemy to Turkey, Iraq and «to people who want to live in peace.

Gul's visit to the White House is seen as a major sign of improved relations between the two NATO allies after five years of acrimony over the Iraq war and U.S. policy on Turkey's fight against the Kurdish rebels.

It follows a visit by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan two months ago that resulted in a commitment by Bush to share intelligence on the PKK and not to object to Turkish airstrikes against the Kurdish guerrillas' installations in northern Iraq.
PR-Inside

I guess this could be said to be true in a sense. In the same way the KKK kept the south and the north safe from the niggers and spicks, and helped keep them in their place. In that sense I guess it's true.