November 1, 2007 (LPAC)--A Southwest Asian regional meeting beginning today in Istanbul, has apparently shifted its earlier focus on the internal security of Iraq, to the current crisis between the Turkish government and the Kurdish Workers Party (P.K.K.) on the Turkey-Iraq border. The Istanbul meeting is being attended by all of Iraq's neighbors, plus the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, and some G8 members.

The long-simmering conflict between the Kurds and Turks (as well as other governments in the region) recently flared up over P.K.K. killings of Turkish soldiers, and Ankara's threat to pursue the assailants in cross-border incursions into Iraq's Kurdistan region.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki met with Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki in Baghdad yesterday and "urged Iran to help defuse the border crisis between Turkey and the P.K.K. and to give its entire support at the Istanbul conference," according to a statement from al-Maliki's office. Mottaki announced that Iran would "deliver a plan regarding the situation in Iraq" at the Istanbul meeting.

BBC reported that Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek said after a cabinet meeting yesterday, that they had started "military, political and diplomatic measures" against the P.K.K.. Though no details were released, the measures could entail a boycott of the Kurdistan Regional Government in northern Iraq, which the Turks accuse of supporting the P.K.K.. This could mean a cutoff of food imports, electricity supplies, and other imports. The Iraqi Foreign Minister announced at the same time, that checkpoints were being set up on the Turkish-Iraqi border to cut off the P.K.K. supply lines.

As to possible military actions, Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan announced today that any military action his country may take "would be aimed at hitting terrorist bases and would not be an invasion," and that a planned meeting on Monday between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and U.S. President George W. Bush would "determine the steps that Turkey would take." The Turkish Daily News reported that U.S. Secretary of State Rice, would meet Turkish officials in Ankara prior to attending today's regional meeting in Istanbul. Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morell stated that "The key for any sort of military response, by the Turks or anybody else, is actionable intelligence. We are making efforts to help them get actionable intelligence."

Russia, through a Kremlin deputy spokesman, urged Turkey to solve the crisis peacefully, saying (as reported by the International Herald Tribune), "We stick to the position that, exercising its legitimate rights, Turkey should realize its responsibility as a regional state so as not to make things worse. Any sharp movements can deteriorate the situation, take it out of control."