Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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October 27, 2007

Turkey Accuses EU of Harboring Kurdish Terrorists
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=1A08BBB:A6F02AD83191E16065F47BE6CD761BB69574F7DCC14957C0 PM Recep Tayyip
Erdogan says no EU country has extradited PKK members, despite
labeling group as terrorist organization Turkey's prime minister has
lashed out at European Union countries for not arresting Kurdish
rebels and extraditing them to Turkey.







Recep Tayyip Erdogan Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a
nationally televised speech Saturday that no EU country had extradited
members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, despite labeling the PKK as a
terrorist group.

He did not name a specific country. Turkey says the rebels take refuge
and raise money in Europe.

Turkey's military presence remained heavy in the Iraqi border area
today, a day after diplomatic talks in Ankara aimed at defusing
tensions there failed to produce any breakthroughs. On Friday, Turkish
warplanes pounded suspected PKK rebel positions in northern Iraq.

Also Friday, Turkey's top military official said the country would
wait until Prime Minister Erdogan meets with U.S. President George
Bush on November 5 in Washington before deciding on any major
cross-border offensive.

Meanwhile Saturday, more than one-thousand people took to the streets
of the mainly Kurdish city of Sirnak in southeastern Turkey near the
Iraqi border to protest the recent surge in PKK rebel violence in the
region.

The PKK has been blamed for two recent attacks in Sirnak, one that
killed 13 soldiers and another that killed 12 passengers on a minibus.

The European Union and the United States have urged Ankara to refrain
from launching an incursion into Iraq.



The PKK has been fighting for Kurdish autonomy in southeastern Turkey
since 1984. More than 30,000 people have died in the conflict.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP .


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