U.S. Appoints Retired General To Coordinate Anti-PKK Campaign

This past Tuesday, Retired General Joseph Ralston was appointed "special coordinator" to head-up efforts aimed at neutralizing the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK ). In this capacity, he will be coordinating policies with the governments of Turkey and Iraq.

During his press release publicizing the appointment, U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey said, " As the PKK is a terrorist group, it is something that requires the work of all parts of our governments, not only from the political or diplomatic side, but also from the side of coordination among our security forces".

Despite rumors circulating in Turkey to the opposite, Mr. Casey denied any possibility of direct talks with the outlawed PKK.