The U.S. Embassy says FBI Director Robert Mueller has met Turkish officials to discuss their countries' cooperation in countering terrorism and organized crime.
The Embassy in Ankara says Mueller met with Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek, Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin and Police Chief Oguz Kagan Koksal on Wednesday.
The United States has provided intelligence to help Turkey combat autonomy-seeking Kurdish rebels who maintain bases in northern Iraq.
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FBI Director Robert Mueller met with Turkish officials in Ankara on Wednesday (November 18th) to discuss anti-terrorism co-operation and other law enforcement issues. Local media reported that talks also touched on the possible use of Turkey as a transit route for US troops who will be pulled out of Iraq. During his visit, Mueller had meetings with Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek, Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin and police chief Oguz Kagan Koksal.
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ANKARA, Turkey, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- Washington backs Turkish efforts to control Kurdish guerrillas as part of a broader counter-terrorism effort, the U.S. Embassy in Ankara said.
FBI Director Robert Mueller met with top Turkish security officials during an official visit to Ankara to discuss counter-terrorism efforts in the region.
Mueller met top security officials, including Cemil Cicek, the deputy prime minister and minister of state, to discuss bilateral efforts to control terrorism and transnational organized crime.
"We are looking forward to an exchange of views on opportunities for even closer and more effective cooperation in our common struggle against terror and law-breakers," an embassy statement said of the visit.
His trip comes as Ankara grapples with finding a political solution to lingering conflict with Kurdish minority groups and the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.
Ankara is considering a series of reforms and modest amnesty measures for PKK members as part of that effort.
U.S. President George W. Bush in 2008 designated the PKK under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act. It was listed a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in 2001 by the U.S. State Department.
The embassy stressed that Turkish cooperation was important to its law enforcement efforts in the region, adding, "We strongly support Turkey's efforts against the PKK terrorist organization."
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FBI chief holds talks in Turkey
(AFP) – Nov 18, 2009
ANKARA — FBI director Robert Mueller met with Turkish officials here Wednesday to discuss joint efforts in combating separatist Kurdish rebels, the US embassy said.
Mueller's agenda focused on "our ongoing and important cooperation on counter-terrorism and law enforcement matters," the statement said, asserting US support for Turkey's struggle against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), listed as a terrorist group by both countries.
"We are looking forward to an exchange of views on opportunities for even closer and more effective cooperation in our common struggle against terror and law-breakers," it said.
Media reports said that using Turkey as a possible transit route for US troops being pulled out from Iraq was also on Mueller's agenda.
The FBI chief met with Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek, Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin and Turkey's police chief Oguz Kagan Koksal.
Since December 2007, the US has backed Turkish air raids against PKK hideouts in neighbouring northern Iraq by providing intelligence on rebel movements.
Ankara is currently working on fresh reforms to expand Kurdish freedoms in a bid to erode popular support for the PKK.
The rebels took up arms in the mainly-Kurdish southeast in 1984, sparking a conflict that has claimed about 45,000 lives.
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