Dempsey in Turkey for talks

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ANKARA, Turkey, Sept. 17 (UPI) -- The United States likely won't agree to a request for more cooperation in Turkey's fight against the Kurdistan Workers' Party terrorist group, officials said.

Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, was in Ankara Monday to meet with his Turkish counterpart, Gen. Necdet Ozel, on defense-related matters, Today's Zaman reported.

Dempsey was expected to be asked about more U.S. cooperation against the Kurdistan Workers' Party, known by the initials PKK.

The Turkish military also was told by NATO to shift its military equipment deployed in the Aegean Sea to the Syrian border, where a civil war in Syria and increased PKK activity pose a greater threat, officials said.

Dempsey's visit to Ankara comes as PKK attacks on Turkish security forces have increased. Eight Turkish police officers were killed and nine were wounded Sunday when a roadside bomb exploded in eastern Turkey, one day after four soldiers died in a PKK attack on a military convoy in Hakkari province.

The United States has extended surveillance drone flights over northern Iraq, where the PKK has bases, to 24 hours a day. However, U.S. officials said personnel remotely piloting the drones also gather information from other global hotspots and cannot keep maintaining 24-hour support of Turkey's anti-PKK operations, Today's Zaman said.

Dempsey's first trip to Turkey since he was appointed in October will last two days. He and Ozel are expected to discuss Syria, focusing on refugees, the report said. Turkey is hosting about 80,000 Syrians who have fled the civil war.

Ozel said Syria wants the international community do more to help the Syrians assist refugees, suggesting a "secure environment" be established within Syria so those fleeing the conflict could be offered safety and help on Syrian territory.

Dempsey, however, has indicated he doesn't favor the idea, saying it could prompt retaliatory attacks from the Syrian regime and potentially draw the United States into the conflict, Today's Zaman said.

Discussions on Syria are expected to focus on the flow of refugee, measures to prevent possible infiltration of terrorists among the refugees leaving Syria, and possible negative ramifications of an ouster of Syrian President Bashar Assad.