SINGAPORE, June 3 (UPI) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Sunday he recently urged Turkey not to take its hunt for Kurdish terrorists within Iraq's borders.
While the Turkish military has vowed to track down Kurdish rebels suspected of perpetrating several recent terror attacks in Turkey, the Voice of America reported Gates has asked the nation not to send troops into Iraq as part of that manhunt.
"We have been working with the Turks to try and help them get control of this problem on Turkish soil," Gates said. "Our view would be that we would prefer that we continue to work this problem with them to try and safeguard Turkey, and would hope that there would not be a unilateral military action across the border into Iraq."
Gates' comments while in Singapore followed recent reports that Kurdistan Workers' Party rebels have taken refuge in regions of Iraq under Kurdish control.
Turkey received similar advice Saturday from Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who condemned any action that would turn the Kurdish region into a battleground.
