Washington, Nov 6, SPA -- Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan emphasized the importance of the “strategic partnership” between Turkey and the United States during a speech on Monday in Washington, DC. Erdogan’s statements came after he visited with U.S. President George W. Bush to discuss the mounting cross-border tensions between Turkey and northern Iraq because of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Erdogan stressed the importance of his country in the Muslim world, saying that any steps taken towards negotiation without Turkey “will not yield results.” The United States must increase their role in placing pressure on the PKK and “go beyond the rhetoric,” Erdogan said during his lecture at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He called for “international solidarity” on the rebel group issue, and said that the United States has an obligation to support Turkey because they supported the Americans after the attacks of September 11, 2001. In the United States’ incursion of Afghanistan after September 11, 2001, Bush promised that he would only target the Taliban and not the people of Afghanistan. Erdogan made the same promise in describing his intensions to launch a military offensive into northern Iraq, saying that he would not hurt the Kurdish people, but is “aiming solely at the PKK.” The United States, Iraq and Turkey have labeled the PKK as a terrorist organization, but Erdogan said “there is no meaning in labeling the PKK as a terrorist organization” if there is no international support against the group. Erdogan also reiterated that Turkey understands that it is important to maintain the integrity of Iraq, and that a stable Iraq is of mutual regional importance. He consistently stressed that Turkey is “not aimed at war” in its tensions with the PKK. The PKK is engaging in an effort to institute “ethnic nationalism” throughout the border region, which Turkey does not subscribe to, Erdogan said. Erdogan also said that the U.S. Congress’ resolution to categorize the 1950 killings of Armenians as genocide would be “hurtful” to the Turkish people. He thanked Bush and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for their efforts to push the Congress from involvement on the matter. --SPA www.spa.gov.sa/497099