Iraq cannot permit PKK terrorists to attack Turkey: VP

AMMAN

Iraq must not allow the PKK terrorist group to carry out attacks on Turkey from its territory, Iraqi Vice-President Iyad Allawi said Wednesday.

Allawi made the assertion while addressing the Amman Security Colloquium, a high-level security conference that kicked off Wednesday at the University of Jordan.

"We in Iraq must not allow the PKK to carry out attacks against Turkey," he said. "We must protect Turkey and Iran."

"And these two states should do the same for us," he asserted.

"In our region we face grave challenges, not least of which is nuclear weapons proliferation," Allawi added. "We therefore must develop peacefully with a view to confronting these challenges."

"The concept of citizenship has begun to retreat in the region, with sectarianism and political Islam dominating our thinking," he said.

He went on to call for a "regional Arab conference" -- in which Turkish and Iranian representatives would also participate -- to discuss means of resolving conflict, fighting terrorism and addressing the rise of sectarianism in the region.

Organized by the Jordan-based Arab Institute for Security Studies, the Amman Security Colloquium is devoted to discussing pressing security issues, especially the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

A number of prominent international and regional figures participated in the event, including former Turkish President Abdullah Gul.

The PKK -- which is listed as a terrorist group by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- resumed its decades-old armed campaign against the Turkish state in July of last year.

Since then, nearly 800 Turkish security personnel -- and over 310 civilians, including women and children -- have been martyred in attacks carried out by the PKK.

Over the same period, more than 10,000 PKK terrorists have been killed or apprehended within the context of ongoing Turkish army operations.

*Reporting by Laith Joneidi; Writing by Ali H. M. Abo Rezeg