January 9, 2008

WASHINGTON, Jan. 9 (UPI) -- President Bush has told Turkish President Abdullah Gul that Kurdish terrorism in southeastern Turkey and Iraq cannot be defeated by purely military means.

A senior Bush administration official, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity Tuesday, said the two presidents had "a lengthy discussion" about the PKK, the Kurdish armed group both governments call terrorists.

"The discussion was along the lines of having a comprehensive solution to the PKK problem, which means not just military action, but also political action, including things within Turkey -- economic, political development, social development in the southeast," said the official.

The official said the two explored "a whole bunch of different solutions to the problem" and that "there was discussion, as there is when we deal with terrorists in different parts of the world, that you have to provide an alternative so that the terrorists are not as attractive" to local populations.

The official also touted the "increased intelligence sharing that we have been conducting with the Turks, and military cooperation to deal with the PKK issue" since November.

Bush addressed the issue more broadly in his own remarks, saying only that "our continuing fight against a common enemy" like the PKK was one of the issues they discussed.

"It's an enemy to Turkey, it's an enemy to Iraq, and it's an enemy to people who want to live in peace," he said of the group.