Bush looks to forestall Iraq incursion in talks with Turkish PM

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
President George W. Bush hoped to persuade Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a face-to-face meeting Monday to hold back tens of thousands of Turkish troops massed on Iraq's border. But Erdogan came to Washington expecting the United States to take action against Kurdish rebels staging cross-border attacks from Iraq into Turkey. So far, the US has been unable to deliver. During a trip to Turkey last week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice promised to redouble efforts against the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK. But her Turkish counterpart, Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, made clear his government was not satisfied.