Ankara expects Kurdish help with PKK

ANKARA, Turkey, May 5 (UPI) -- Ankara is expecting significant support from the Kurdish administration in Iraq in the fight against Kurdish guerrillas, the Turkish foreign minister said.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu spoke during an Ankara visit with visiting Sunni lawmakers from Iraq on the need to control militant activity linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.

PKK attacks in Turkey are increasing as the spring thaw begins. Ankara believes attacks are on the rise because of a pending visit to Turkey by Massoud Barzani, the president of the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq.

"We are expecting active support from the regional administration (in northern Iraq)," the foreign minister was quoted in the English-language newspaper Hurriyet as saying.

Davutoglu added that Barzani was a welcome partner in Ankara. On trilateral efforts between U.S., Iraqi and Turkish officials on the PKK issue, the foreign minister stressed that Ankara's "determination is continuing."

He said there was no firm date scheduled for the Barzani visit, however.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization in the United States, Turkey and Iraq.