Senior US general visits Turkey for talks on fighting terrorism, PKK

US Joint Chiefs of Staff Vice-Chairman General James Cartwright speaks to the media Thursday during a reception in Ankara to celebrate US Independence Day. [Getty Images]

04/07/2008

ANKARA, Turkey -- General James Cartwright, vice-chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrived on Thursday (July 3rd) in Ankara to discuss the fight against terrorism, including the operations against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The US Embassy says Cartwright met with Turkey's chief of the General Staff General Yasar Buyukanit, and his deputy General Ergin Saygun. This is Cartwright's third visit to Ankara since November 2007. Turkey, supported by US military intelligence services, has been conducting military operations against PKK bases in northern Iraq for months.

In other news, the Turkish General Staff announced that the seaside resort of Antalya will host a three-day meeting of the Balkan countries' General Staff chiefs beginning on Sunday. Officials from Turkey, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Greece will attend, as will NATO and EU military delegations. (Zaman, Turkish Daily News - 04/07/08; AFP, Hurriyet - 03/07/08)

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