''IT IS A REALITY THAT PKK-KADEK TERRORISTS TAKE SHELTER IN NORTH OF IRAQ''
ISTANBUL - Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal said on Sunday ''it is a reality that terrorists of PKK-KADEK take shelter in north of Iraq. The thing that must be done is to hand over these militants to Turkish government as soon as possible.''
Speaking in a news conference after returning from Italy where he participated in the Socialist International, Baykal said that the two-day meeting of Socialist International focused on the problems of reconstruction in Iraq and a session was held on the second day about problems of Palestine and Israel. Baykal stated that political stability could not be ensured in Iraq following the military intervention and change of regime. Noting that there was authority vacuum in the region, Baykal stated that ''I told during the meeting that the U.N. had to ensure an international legitimacy environment and a new interim administration had to be founded in Iraq.''
Stressing that the new structure in Iraq had to take as basis individuals rather than ethnic and religious groups, Baykal said that ''there are various ethnic and religious groups in Iraq, all of them had to be taken as founders of democratic federation and their field of activity should not be limited to the region where they form the majority. The administration of 18 existing provinces should take part in such a federation by taking into consideration the geographical factors.''
Upon a question, Baykal stated that they believed 5,000-6,000 militants who were members of PKK-KADEK were in north of Iraq, adding that ''it is a reality that PKK-KADEK terrorists take shelter in north of Iraq. This fact should not be forgotten: In the official approach of the U.S., PKK is accepted as a terrorist organization. They know that terrorists stay there. These militants should be handed over to Turkish government as soon as possible.''
Baykal stated that ''PKK-KADEK terrorists should not have special protection,'' adding that ''this issue should be sorted out immediately without making it an issue of bargaining... Turkey has to demand it, and the U.S. has to do it without receiving such a demand.''
Baykal stated that ''first of all, the attitude that has to be assumed towards terrorists has to be assumed and then the step that need to be taken has to be determined by the Turkish government in cooperation with our friends. Our target is to render terrorism ineffective in Turkey and in the world. If there were Al-Qaeda militants in Turkey, what would be the attitude of the U.S. about this issue?''
When reminded about the news saying that the U.S. wanted Turkish soldiers to ensure security in Baghdad, Baykal stated that ''at this stage, Turkey has to take decisions about Iraq by assessing all the realities... The troops which Turkey will send to Iraq have to be determined by taking into consideration the needs regarding the development of the Iraqi society and their infrastructure.''
''Besides calling of Turkey to make cooperation in the region while north of Iraq is presented as a prohibited region for Turkey is not appropriate,'' said Baykal.
(Öª-AÖ) 21.07.2003