Pope calls for peaceful solution to tensions between Turkey, Iraq

Published: 2007-11-05

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI called for a peaceful solution to mounting tensions between Turkey and northern Iraq. Recent events unfolding along the border between Turkey and Iraq "are a cause of concern for me and for everyone," he said Nov. 4 after praying the Angelus in St. Peter's Square. Turkey has threatened to launch a major incursion into northern Iraq if more is not done to combat Kurdish rebels who have been striking targets in Turkey from northern Iraq. Some 100,000 Turkish troops -- backed by tanks and military aircraft -- have been deployed along the Iraqi border. "I wish, therefore, to encourage every effort to bring about a peaceful solution to the problems that have emerged recently between Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan," the pope said. Large numbers of Iraqi civilians have fled to the relatively stable, autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan "to escape the insecurity and terrorism that have made life in Iraq difficult these past years," he said.

Copyright (c) 2007 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .