(AFP) – Jul 3, 2008

ANKARA (AFP) — A senior US general arrived here Thursday on a a one-day visit for talks with his Turkish counterparts on efforts to root out Kurdish rebels based in northern Iraq, a US embassy official said.

General James Cartwright, vice chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, will "discuss standard issues that concern both militaries, including the ongoing struggle against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and ongoing intelligence sharing," an embassy spokeswoman told AFP.

Cartwright would meet with the head of the Turkish army, General Yasar Buyukanit, and his number two, General Ergin Saygun, she said.

The United States has been supplying Turkey with intelligence to counter the PKK which uses rear bases in Kurdish-populated northern Iraq for attacks on Turkish targets.

With US assistance, the Turkish military has stepped up its campaign against the PKK since December, carrying out several air raids on rebel targets in Iraq as well as a week-long cross-border ground operation targeting a major PKK base.

More than 37,000 people have been killed since 1984 when the PKK started an armed campaign for self-rule in Turkey's Kurdish-populated east and southeast.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist group by Ankara, Washington and the European Union.

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