News on Turkey

Special U.S. Envoy Named for Countering Kurdish Terror Group

Ralston to coordinate U.S. engagement with Turkey, Iraq against PKK threat

28 August 2006

Washington -- Retired U.S. Air Force General Joseph W. Ralston, a former NATO supreme allied commander, has been appointed as U.S. special envoy for countering the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party), the State Department announced August 28.

Ralston will be responsible for “coordinating U.S. engagement with the government of Turkey and the government of Iraq to eliminate the terrorist threat of the PKK and other terrorist groups operating in northern Iraq and across the Turkey-Iraq border,” said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.

On August 15, McCormack issued a statement marking the 22nd anniversary of violence by the PKK and calling on the group to halt its terrorist attacks against Turkey, which have killed 500 people in 2006. (See related article.)

Approximately 4,000 to 5,000 people, primarily Turkish Kurds, are believed to belong to the PKK, which formally changed its name to Kongra-Gel in 2003. The State Department’s 2005 Country Reports on Terrorism estimates that the majority of PKK members – between 3,000 and 3,500 -- are operating out of the Kurdish region of northern Iraq.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, visiting Turkey’s capital in April, urged Turkey to work with the Iraqi government to address cross-border terrorism by the PKK. (See related article.)

In May, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried told journalists that the United States is increasing its cooperation with Turkey against the PKK, and “we want to increase it still more.”  (See related article.)

The appointment of Ralston as special envoy for countering the PKK “underscores the commitment of the United States to work with Turkey and Iraq to eliminate terrorism in all its forms,” McCormack said August 28.

Ralston completed a 37-year career in the Air Force by serving as commander of the U.S. European Command and as supreme allied commander in Europe for NATO from 2000 through 2003.  Prior to that, he was vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  He is a command pilot with more than 2,500 flying hours, including 147 combat missions.

More information on Ralston’s background is available on the Web site of the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, Turkey. The full text of the Country Reports on Terrorism for 2005 is available on the State Department Web site.