ANKARA - The United States’ top diplomat in Turkey has praised the government’s steps toward a solution to the Kurdish question.
In a televised interview with the private channel NTV on Friday, Ambassador James Jeffrey said Turkish-U.S. cooperation to combat the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, has been successful and called for social, political and economic measures to be taken in addition to military ones.
Jeffrey said the United States is supportive of the steps the Turkish government is planning to take and expressed confidence that the Turkish people would find a solution to the Kurdish issue. The ambassador’s remarks came after a visit last week to the southeastern province of Diyarbakýr. He said the government’s steps had sparked optimism despite the ongoing problems and added his belief that many issues could be resolved in a democratic environment.
In order to fight the PKK, the regional government in northern Iraq should exert more efforts, the ambassador said, but noted the Iraqis were facing many problems and called for time and patience. |
