It was reported that PUK leader Talabani will ask for weapons and money during his visit to Turkey which
began on Monday evening. Turkey, even though it seemed to have left Talabani on the "back burner"
long ago, appears ready to give this assistance.

Ozgur Politica    (Ozgur Politica is a pro PKK punblication in Turkish)
(Translated Text)

Jan 10, 2001

The visit of Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leader Jalal Talabani to Ankara while the possibility of hot
conflict in South Kurdistan [Iraqi Kurdistan] still lingers has increased activity in the region. Talabani,
who was brought as far as Amed [Diyarbakir] by helicopter, completed his journey to Ankara by
airplane on Monday evening.

During his official contacts in Ankara, Talabani is expected to maintain the position he took during
previous visits. The PUK leader, who was called to Ankara by the Turkish Foreign Ministry, is expected to
ask for assistance in the form of weapons and money for the assaults the PUK has been carrying out
against the PKK with Turkish military support. Additionally, it is expected that Talabani will ask for
Turkey's support in gaining the PUK's share of income from the Habur customs gate, which is under
Kurdistan Democrat Party (KDP) control. This will be Talabani's second visit to Ankara in recent months,
the most recent visit being in July of last year. During that last visit, the PUK leader gave Ankara his word
that he would fight against the PKK.

Talabani is expected to meet with Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit during his two-day visit to Ankara and
will also meet with Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Faruk Logoglu and officials from the
General Staff intelligence department. Sources from the Turkish Foreign Ministry had the following to say:
"We left Talabani out of the picture for a long time. But now, we think that the PUK is doing a perfect job
together with Massoud Barzani's Kurdistan Democrat Party against the terrorist PKK in northern Iraq. For
that reason, it deserves Turkey's support." Ministry sources said that Talabani had been under intensive
"pressure from Iraq and Iran" because of his cooperation with Turkey, continuing to say,
"Therefore, we must give the necessary assistance." The same sources noted that KDP leader Massoud
Barzani would also be invited to Ankara in the coming days. KDP sources, for their part, have made no
statements on this matter.

Operation visit

Talabani's visit to Ankara has gained importance because of the tense days being experienced in the
region. Talabani, who has been organizing assaults against the PKK since September of last year, is
receiving financial and military assistance from Ankara. The Ankara administration developed tight
relations with Barzani's KDP in the past, and has raised relations with the PUK to top-level visits over
the past two years. The focus of PUK-Ankara relations, meanwhile, is the PKK. Following the visit to
Ankara of politburo member Omer Ali Huseyin in July 1999, the PUK closed down some newspapers, culture
centers, and associations on the grounds that they were close to the PKK. It was reported at the time
that Talabani had received USD 80 million from Turkey in return. Turkey-PUK relations were raised to the
level of "strategic partnership" last August as a result of Talabani's visit to Ankara. The PUK began broad
assaults against guerrilla forces in the region approximately one month after that visit. The
assaults, which met with intense reaction from the Kurdish people and organizations, ceased for a time
after the signing of a cease fire, but were resumed once again by the PUK in December. It has been
reported that PUK administration received USD 15 million from Turkey in return for the latest assaults.

Weapons being sent to the South

Meanwhile, according to news received from local sources, great amounts of heavy weapons, including
Katyusha missiles, were sent by the Turkish military to South Kurdistan through the Habur border gate at
Silopi the other night after midnight.

'War plan put into action'

South Kurdistani political figure Davut Bagistani evaluated PUK leader Jalal Talabani's visit to Ankara
as "putting the war plan into action."

Commenting on recent developments and evaluating Talabani's Ankara visit for our newspaper, Bagistani
said: "Talabani has stated verbally in the meetings he has had with delegations that he is in favor of peace.
But on the other hand, he is going to Ankara to make preparations for war. This is contradictory. The PUK
also wants to pull the KDP into war. This shows how broad the scope of the plan is."

Bagistani stressed that, in spite of everything, it was necessary for efforts for inter-Kurdish peace to
continue under all circumstances, and continued as follows: "For the Turkish army to be 350 kilometers
inside the South makes a solution more difficult. A great war may not be experienced right now because
of winter conditions. But a war this spring could make Turkey and its friends suffer heavy losses. But we
want problems to be solved without the shedding of blood, despite everything." Bagistani drew attention
to the great reaction of the people of the South and of Kurdish organizations against the PUK's insistence
on war, and said also that there were differences of opinion inside the PUK.