WASHINGTON: President George W Bush has promised US cooperation in Turkey's struggle against Kurdish rebels operating out of northern Iraq, but Washington also urged restraint after deadly border clashes.
Bush telephoned Turkish President Abdullah Gul on Monday and "expressed his deep concern" about the weekend attacks by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), White House national security council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.
"The president reaffirmed our commitment to work with Turkey and Iraq to combat PKK terrorists operating out of northern Iraq," he said, without spelling out what kind of US help might be extended.
The PKK said it had captured eight Turkish soldiers after an ambush Sunday on a military unit near the village of Daglica on the Iraqi border, which left 12 troops dead.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to launch a military drive into northern Iraq unless Baghdad clamps down on the rebels and turns over the PKK leaders it accuses of masterminding cross-border attacks.
The United States, which use the Incirlik air base in southern Turkey as a major staging post for supplies headed to its forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, fears an incursion could gravely undermine its battle to stabilise Iraq.
"President Bush told President Gul that the United States will continue to 'urge the Iraqis to take action against the PKK," added Johndroe, who said Bush had also discussed the crisis with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
