ANKARA - Stating that armed components of terrorist organization PKK/Kongra-Gel are still active in the north of Iraq, General Staff Deputy Chief General Ilker Basbug said on Thursday that ``the United States has not carried out effective and noticeable fight against those terrorist groups``. He added that ``it was obvious that the United States did not meet Turkey`s expectations on that issue``.
Holding a monthly news conference, Basbug stated that presence of personnel of Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) in the northern part of Iraq was a must because of the presence of terrorist groups. He added that it was not possible for Turkey to withdraw its military presence there before terrorist organization was completely disbanded in the north of Iraq.
Basbug also underlined the necessity that all institutions of the state and nongovernmental organizations should put forward their determination to fight terrorism.
Recalling that former deputies of the outlawed Democracy Party (DEP) organized tours in some provinces immediately after they were released, Basbug said that they spoke in a language which is not the official language of Turkey during rallies and proposed that terrorist organization should stop its actions for another six months. He added that ``they benefited from hesitations of bureaucracy``.
Basbug also insisted on the implementation of preventative and legal measures by the state institutions and organizations` with determination. He stressed that this was very important for TSK as regards maintaining the security within the country. Basbug also denied press reports claiming that the United States had some new demands from Turkey which are not in conformity with the stipulations of Defense and Economic Cooperation Treaty --signed between the two countries--, and added that the United States` new demands were conform to the essence of Defense and Economic Cooperation Treaty.
(EÖ-ULG) 08.07.2004