Iraqi foreign minister says ready to jointly address Kurdistan Workers’ Party

Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari. (AFP)

ANKARA: Iraq is ready to address the issue of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in coordination with concerned countries, Foreign Minister Ibrahim Al-Jaafari said Wednesday.
Speaking at a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in Baghdad, Al-Jaafari said the PKK has exploited security conditions in northern Iraq to gain a presence in some areas.
“Iraq didn’t bring in the organization from abroad, but security conditions have enabled it to settle in our territory,” he said.
Asked about Iraqi measures to uproot the PKK, he said his country will not allow “insults against any country” from its territories. “We won’t allow turning Iraq into a conflict zone.”
Baghdad is ready to launch an initiative “to deal with the PKK problem in coordination with concerned countries but without violating Iraqi sovereignty,” he added.
Al-Jaafari called on the Turkish government “to play an important role in rebuilding areas liberated from Daesh.”
Last month, Iraqi forces dislodged Daesh from Mosul, its last stronghold in Iraq that was once the country’s second-largest city in terms of population.
In late 2015, Kurdish forces recaptured Sinjar in northern Iraq from Daesh, which overrun the district a year earlier.