ANKARA (AA) - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday, ''the Iraqi government has told us that it is ready to take action against the terrorist organization of PKK.''
Prime Minister Erdogan met Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari of Iraq who is paying his first foreign trip to Turkey since he took office last month.
Holding a news conference following their meeting in Ankara, Prime Minister Erdogan reiterated that Turkey attributed great importance to territorial integrity and political unity of Iraq.
''The international community is obliged to support the Iraqi government and its people in the current transition period,'' he stressed.
Describing the general elections of January 30th in Iraq as a significant step, Prime Minister Erdogan expressed his belief that the preparatory process for the new constitution will also be completed successfully.
''We observe that the Iraqi government is determined to secure unity and peace in the country by preventing ethnic elements from being dominant over the others. Iraq's success in its current transition period is of great importance in regard to peace in the region. Turkey is ready to extend political, economic and commercial support to Iraq,'' Erdogan noted.
Upon a question about presence of the terrorist organization PKK in northern part of Iraq, Prime Minister Erdogan said, ''the Iraqi government has told us that it is ready to take action against the terrorist organization of PKK.''
Replying to another question on Turkey's role in Iraq and the Middle East, Prime Minister Erdogan said, ''first of all, Turkey is the guarantee of peace in the Middle East. We aim to secure peace and security in the region. As a country which suffered much from acts of terrorism, we are concerned about all kinds of terrorism. Terrorism claimed 40 thousand lives in Turkey.''
2005-05-20