MESOP FOCUS : UK & German leaders urge Turkey to stop PKK attacks

 Western Officials Warns Turkey: Don’t Attack Kurds / We want the focus to be on Islamic State: British PM

Basnews views – 28.07.2015 – LONDON – UK Prime Minister David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel made it clear that Turkey should not attack Kurds, reported the Guardian on Monday. Both leaders said they did not want the Turks to shift the focus of their new operations to an assault on Kurds in Iraqi Kurdistan or Syria.

“We want the focus to be on Isil. It is important that Turkey made these steps and we will encourage them to do that,” Cameron said. Merkel on Sunday urged Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu “not to give up the peace process with the Kurds but to stick to it despite all the difficulties,” according to her deputy spokesman Georg Streiter, reported die Deutsche Welle. US spokesperson John Kirby on Friday said that the US wants the peace process to continue, echoing the sentiments of President Barzani. “We obviously want to – I mean, we would agree that peace is better than conflict,” he told reporters, while justifying Turkish airstrikes on the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) as retaliation attacks. German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen criticised Turkey for bombing the PKK in an interview with Bild. Although she praised Turkey for bombing Islamic State (IS) in Syria, she underlined it was important for Turkey to continue on the path toward peace with the PKK. The attacks by Turkey on PKK targets in Iraq led to a discussion in the German parliament about removing a German missile system stationed on the Turkish-Syrian border, reported Welt on Monday.