Rice promises Ankara "effective" action on PKK

By Sue Pleming

SHANNON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday promised "effective" action against Kurdish rebels who have launched attacks on Turkey from northern Iraq, but she strongly urged Ankara itself to observe restraint.

Speaking en route for Turkey, Rice called the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) a "common enemy" but said its NATO ally should not undertake any action that could destabilize the situation in northern Iraq.

She also indicated Washington might follow Turkey's lead and impose sanctions targeting the PKK separatists.

"We have certainly been concerned that anything that would destabilize the north of Iraq is not going to be in Turkey's interests, it is not going to be in our interests and it is not going to be in the Iraqis' interests. That's been the reason for urging restraint," Rice told reporters before a refueling stop in Ireland.

"But we understand the need to do something effective against this PKK threat," she said, adding: "The PKK is an enemy of the United States just like it is an enemy of the Turks."

Turkey has sent 100,000 troops to the border for a possible push into northern Iraq against PKK militants. But Iraq and the United States have urged Ankara to refrain from a major operation.

Her visit coincides with increasingly anti-U.S. sentiment in Turkey and residual anger after a resolution passed by a U.S. congressional committee this month that called the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turks a genocide.

Rice will meet President Abdullah Gul as well as Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who is going to Washington next week for talks with President George W. Bush over how to tackle the PKK threat.