Turkey-Iran action against Kurds possible, says Erdogan

Ankara, 21 August 2017 (MIA) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday that a joint operation with Iran against Kurdish militants was “always on the agenda”, a week after Tehran’s top armed forces commander visited Ankara for rare talks, AFP reports.
Turkey has battled the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) for decades, while the Iranian security forces have also fought its affiliate, the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK). Both groups have rear bases in neighbouring Iraq.
“It is always on the agenda to carry out a joint operation with Iran against those terror organisations which pose a threat,” Erdogan told reporters in Istanbul before a trip to Jordan.
His comments came after Iran’s Armed Forces chief of staff General Mohammad Hussain Bagheri visited Turkey last week, with the two sides discussing ways to cooperate against the militants.
During the visit, Iran made a “surprise proposal” to Ankara to launch a joint operation against Kurdish militants in northern Iraq’s Kandil and Sinjar regions, the Turkish newspaper Turkiye reported on its front page on Monday.
The newspaper claimed the proposal sparked surprise in Ankara because Turkish officials had long complained that Tehran had long left Turkey alone in its fight against the PKK’s cadres, financial structuring and political activities.
Erdogan confirmed that the two countries’ military chiefs discussed how to work against Kurdish militants.
“The work will continue because you know that the PKK terror organisation has a foot in Iran,” he said.
“They always cause harm to Iran and to us. We work because we believe that if the two countries cooperate, we can reach a conclusion in a much shorter period of time,” he said.
“I hope that we will get a successful result there,” he added, without offering further details on the timing or scope of the operation.
The PKK is designated as a terror group by Turkey, the European Union and the United States.
The Turkish army has been waging a relentless campaign in the last months to eradicate the PKK, and occasionally launches air raids against the group’s bases in northern Iraq.
Ankara has long complained Iran has ignored its appeal for a joint campaign against the Kurdish insurgency. sk/13:11
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Sputnik: Serbian embassy staff withdrawal due to Macedonia’s support to Kosovo’s bid to join UNESCO
Belgrade, 21 August 2017 (MIA) - Macedonian Government drafted proposal to support Kosovo’s bid to join UNESCO and it is one of the reasons due to which Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs withdrew the personnel of country’s embassy to Skopje for urgent consultations, Sputnik news agency reports Monday, citing its well-informed sources.
Commenting on recent developments involving the Serbian embassy in Macedonia, Ana Brnabic said 'it's no small matter' and that she had had consultations with Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic.
The Serbian Prime Minister told reporters Monday that a press release was set to be released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which was being drafted with 'joined efforts', Tanjug reports.
The Macedonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs says Monday it still hasn't received any official information from Belgrade to explain why diplomats and staff have been withdrawn from the Embassy of Serbia in Skopje. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs told MIA that is establishing communication with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Serbia.
Serbian Ambassador Dusanka Divjak-Tomic in a statement for Serbian media on Sunday confirmed that entire personnel of the Embassy has been withdrawn and that she could not make any comment.
In accordance with relevant provisions of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, the institutions of the Republic of Macedonia are taking measures to protect the security and integrity of the Embassy of Serbia in Skopje, Macedonia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said.



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