A Kurdish group on Tuesday rejected calls by Iraq's president to stop fighting against Turkey and leave Iraqi soil. President Jalal Talabani made the call Monday during a joint press conference with visiting Turkish President Abdullah Gul.
"Jalal Talabani doesn't have the authority or the will to utter such words, and we don't take orders from him," PKK spokesman Ahmed Deniz said, according to the AP. "We are publicly warning Talabani that such statements will lead to grave consequences and much of the achievements of (Iraq's) Kurds will be lost," Deniz noted.
Gul arrived Monday on the first trip to Iraq by a Turkish head of state in 33 years. He called on Iraqis to crack down on Kurdish rebels and was expected to repeat that call during talks Tuesday. "The time has come to remove the element that is a source of trouble," Gul said during the press conference. "We need to engage in a joint struggle to completely eradicate terrorism."
