Turkish President Abdullah Gul (R) meets with United States Vice President Dick Cheney in Ankara, Turkey, March 24, 2008. Cheney on Monday paid a day-long visit to Turkey, the last leg of his Middle East trip. (Xinhua Photo)
Visiting US Vice President Dick Cheney on Monday held talks with Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on terrorism and Iran's nuclear program, Anatolia news agency reported.
During their talks, Cheney and Erdogan discussed Washington's cooperation in Turkey's fight against Kurdish rebels based in northern Iraq.
The US shares real-time intelligence with Turkey, its NATO ally, in its fight against rebels of the banned Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), who use bases in northern Iraq to launch attacks against Turkey.
Turkey has been fighting with the PKK, which took up arms against the country in 1984 with the aim of creating an ethnic homeland in southeastern Turkey.
More than 30,000 people have been killed in the over-two-decade conflict between the Turkish army and the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey and the United States.
On February 21, some 10,000 Turkish troops crossed the Iraqi border and launched a major ground operation into northern Iraq to hit PKK camps. The eight-day incursion ended February 29.
Meanwhile, Cheney also expressed US concern over Iran's "nuclear armament program". For his part, Erdogan said Iran should work with the International Atomic Energy Agency, and negotiate to solve the problem in a way to eliminate concerns of the international community, according to Anatolia.
