FM calls for dialogue on Turkey, Iraq row

BEIJING—Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao Thursday called on concerned parties to properly handle related issue through dialogue and consultation, when responding to a question on Turkish parliament’s approval of a motion for cross-border operation into Iraq.
“China has paid attention to the developments of situation in this area, and we sincerely hope that concerned parties will properly handle the related issue through dialogue and consultation,” said Liu at a regular press conference.
The Turkish parliament on Wednesday approved by 507 votes to 19a motion submitted by the government for cross-border military operations in the fight against the outlawed Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK).
The PKK has increased its attacks on government troops in southeastern Turkey, which has led to rising Turkish demands for an incursion into northern Iraq to crush the rebels based there.
The group, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, launched an armed campaign for an ethnic homeland in the mainly Kurdish southeastern Turkey in 1984, sparking decades of strife that has claimed more than 30,000 lives. Hundreds of angry Kurdish people staged massive demonstrations on Thursday to protest the Turkish parliament’s approval of a motion backing military incursion into Iraq to pursue the banned Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) rebels.
“Hundreds of students, employees and citizens took to the streets in Arbil, Duhuk and some other Kurdish cities, holding banners rejecting the Turkish threats and calling for peaceful solutions,” Yasir al-Hamdani, a local journalist told Xinhua. “No, no for a military solution. Yes, yes for peace,” one banner says, and another reads, “Violation over Kurdistan border is a violation over its people.”
In Arbil, some 350 km north of Baghdad, the demonstration started from the Franois Hariri intersection moved toward nearby Einkawa town, where the UN office located, Hamdani said. Civil society organizations in Arbil and Duhuk organized the demonstrations in the Kurdish enclave with the aim of protesting against the Turkish parliament decision and submit a memo to the UN office, he said.
On Wednesday, the Turkish parliament gave its nod to a motion submitted by the Turkish government for military incursion into neighboring Iraq to target the PKK rebels based in Iraqi territories. The passage of the motion paved way for the possible Turkish military actions in northern Iraq during the next one year period.—Xinhua