FBI's Mueller in Ankara on PKK initiative

ANKARA, Turkey, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- Washington backs Turkish efforts to control Kurdish guerrillas as part of a broader counter-terrorism effort, the U.S. Embassy in Ankara said.

FBI Director Robert Mueller met with top Turkish security officials during an official visit to Ankara to discuss counter-terrorism efforts in the region.

Mueller met top security officials, including Cemil Cicek, the deputy prime minister and minister of state, to discuss bilateral efforts to control terrorism and transnational organized crime.

"We are looking forward to an exchange of views on opportunities for even closer and more effective cooperation in our common struggle against terror and law-breakers," an embassy statement said of the visit.

His trip comes as Ankara grapples with finding a political solution to lingering conflict with Kurdish minority groups and the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.

Ankara is considering a series of reforms and modest amnesty measures for PKK members as part of that effort.

U.S. President George W. Bush in 2008 designated the PKK under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act. It was listed a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in 2001 by the U.S. State Department.

The embassy stressed that Turkish cooperation was important to its law enforcement efforts in the region, adding, "We strongly support Turkey's efforts against the PKK terrorist organization."