Failure by US forces to capture PKK leaders sparks anger in Ankara
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Following sharp comments made by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan two days ago regarding what he characterized as a lack of "concrete steps" on the part of the US in the struggle against Northern Iraq-based PKK members, it has been revealed that a recent situation in the Northern Iraqi city of Erbil sparked Erdogan's words on the matter.
Sources in Ankara say that it was the failure of US forces in Iraq to capture well-known PKK leaders Murat Karayilan and Cemil Bayik, despite their known location, that led Erdogan to make his outburst en route to Lebanon two days ago.
Recently, Turkish forces had received information that both Karayilan and Bayik had gone to a hospital in the Northern Iraqi city of Erbil, which is under the control of Mesut Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party, for health check-ups. This information was then shared with US forces in the region, and the message was given to "Either capture these two terrorists and hand them over to us, or we are going to capture them ourselves." Neither of these two scenarios, however, took place.
Discomfort over US failure to take "concrete steps," as Erdogan characterized them, against the PKK has reportedly also begun to affect Turkish-appointed special representative against the PKK, former General Edip Baser. Baser has apparently threatened to resign from his posting if more strenuous action is not taken against the terrorist forces in Northern Iraq.