Turkish officials in Baghdad for PKK talks

ANKARA, Turkey, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- Turkish officials plan to visit Iraqi Kurdistan Tuesday to meet with top officials to discuss efforts at reining in the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.

The Turkish delegation will meet with President Massoud Barzani from the Kurdistan Regional Government and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, also a Kurd, in the Iraqi capital, Turkish daily Hurriyet reported.

Turkey signaled direct talks with Kurdish officials would bring security gains to the region as the outlawed PKK has been the target of frequent military attacks, both in northern Iraq and in Turkey.

Ankara blames Kurdish officials for failing to take appropriate measures to control PKK activity in the region, an issue Turkish President Abdullah Gul is expected to raise in the coming weeks.

"We are in a long-lasting struggle. We will do everything necessary in this struggle," he said.

The Turkish government last week extended a mandate permitting cross-border attacks into northern Iraq to take on PKK militants, and Monday Turkish military officials said military jets had targeted PKK holdouts during weekend raids.

The U.S. State Department lists the PKK as a terrorist organization, and U.S. officials have been cooperating with Turkey in the efforts against the group.