U.S. supports Turkey's fight against PKK

By Tabassum Zakaria

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney on Monday told Turkey that the United States supported its fight against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq, but wanted to ensure it did not add to political tensions in Iraq, a senior U.S. administration official said.

Cheney also discussed Turkey's role as part of the NATO force in Afghanistan but received no firm commitment that Ankara would send more troops or increase support, the official told reporters travelling with Cheney to Istanbul.

The United States is trying to smooth tensions between two key allies, Iraq and Turkey, over Turkey's incursions into northern Iraq to fight Kurdish rebels known as the PKK.

"The United States has certainly been supportive of Turkey in that fight against the PKK," the U.S. official said on condition of anonymity.

"We've worked hard with the Turks as well as with the Iraqis to try and figure out how to get at the PKK problem in as productive a way as possible," the official said.

That meant helping Turkey and Iraq fight the PKK while being sensitive to Iraq's delicate political and security situation, and "trying hard to avoid any problems that would add to the existing stresses on the Iraqi political balance," he said.

Cheney started a nine-day trip to the Middle East with a stop in Iraq that included a trip to Arbil, where he met Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani last week and discussed the PKK among other issues.

Turkish-U.S. relations have been rocky in recent years but improved after Washington shared intelligence during a Turkish ground offensive against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq.