Report: Turkey, Iraqi Kurds hold talks

ANKARA, Turkey, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- Turkish officials have held secret talks with leaders of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish zone on dealing with Kurdish separatists in Turkey, sources say.

The talks reportedly took place Oct. 3 and are ongoing between Turkish officials and members of Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party, the Turkish newspaper Today's Zaman reported.

The discussions reportedly are aimed at finding ways to battle the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which both Turkey and Iraq regard as a terrorist organization. The PKK operates along Iraq's mountainous border, from which it launches assaults inside Turkey. Turkish warplanes and artillery Saturday bombed 31 PKK targets inside northern Iraq, military officials said.

Today's Zaman quoted unnamed sources saying there will soon be further meetings with Iraqi Kurds to discuss cooperation against the PKK, possibly in Baghdad or Irbil, the regional capital of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish administration.