A week after Turkey withdrew troops from northern Iraq, claiming its military initiative against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) was successfully completed, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani met with Turkish President Abdullah Gul to try to figure out how regional tensions might be contained in the future.

BBC: “We have requested that the Kurdish administration puts pressure on PKK units to give up their weapons or leave the region,” Mr Talabani said, referring to Iraq’s Kurdish autonomous region.

His visit is being seen as ground-breaking in Turkey, the BBC’s Sarah Rainsford reports.

The previous Turkish president refused to invite President Talabani, who is Kurdish, because of Turkey’s suspicions Iraqi Kurds were supporting the PKK

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#abdullah gul#iraq#jalal talabani#kurdistan#kurds#military#pkk#president#turkey