US State Department Q&A | October 19, 2007

Mavi Boncuk

QUESTION: Tom, on the PKK issue, representatives of the KRG in northern Iraq are saying that the United States is obligated by UN resolutions to protect the territorial integrity of Iraq, which means that it'll have to protect against any foreign invasion. Is that your interpretation as well?

MR. CASEY: It's my interpretation, Nicholas, that the PKK represents a very serious problem for both Iraq and for Turkey, and it's our expectation that what will happen is that we will be able to work cooperatively with both the Turks and the Iraqis to resolve it. And so I think it's speculative for anyone to be talking about the possibility of some kind of unilateral military action at this point.

QUESTION: A follow-up?

MR. CASEY: Somehow I knew you would, Mr. Lambros. Yeah, please.

QUESTION: Mr. Casey, according to today's Los Angeles Times, Graham Fuller, former Deputy Director of CIA National Intelligence Council, stated clearly, "Washington supports Kurdish PKK terrorists against Iran." How do you respond since that means clearly cooperation between the United States of America and PKK rebels?

MR. CASEY: And who is this saying this, Mr. Lambros?

QUESTION: It's Graham Fuller.

QUESTION: Graham.

MR. CASEY: Graham Fuller. Yeah, well, if he's a former employee of the CIA, the best I can say is I think that's a spy who's been out in the cold too long.

The United States does not have contact with and does not support the PKK. It's a terrorist organization. It's treated as such. And the only thing we want to see from it is to have it go out of business.

QUESTION: A thousand of Kurdish people in northern Iraq protested yesterday against Turkish vote in the parliament for cross-borders operation against PKK rebels, saying no to Turkey. Any comment on that?

MR. CASEY: Mr. Lambros, I think it's a positive thing that people in Iraq are free to express their views just as people in Turkey are. Again, our position is that we need to have Turkey and Iraq work together with us to be able to confront the PKK. It represents a challenge and a problem and a threat to both countries, and that's why it's important that we continue those efforts.

Thanks, guys.