Condoleezza Rice today promised that the United States would intensify action against Kurdish rebels whom she labelled a common enemy of Turkey and the US.

The US Secretary of State, in Ankara to discuss the growing border crisis between the Turkish Government and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), pledged that Washington would increase its pressure on the Iraqi Government to take concrete steps against the rebels.

Turkey has repeatedly threatened to launch a military incursion against PKK targets across the border in northern Iraq unless US and Iraqi officials take meaningful action against Kurdish separatists.

Ms Rice was today pushing for a breakthrough in negotiations between the three governments who are trying to agree a joint clampdown on the PKK, but she failed to detail any American proposals.

“We want to look to a plan for effective action against the PKK that will require not just the US and Turkey but also the Iraqi Government,” she said.

“That is a discussion I plan to have when I see Prime Minister al-Maliki later on today.

“We consider this a common threat, not just to the interests of Turkey but to the interests of the United States as well.”

Ms Rice told Ali Babacan, the Turkish foreign minister, that the US was also considering improving its intelligence and information sharing with Turkey.

Mr Babacan made it clear that pledges from the US were not sufficient. “We have great expectations from the United States. We are at the point where words have been exhausted and where there is need for action,” he said. But he also signalled that Turkey would prefer to consult with Washington before launching an attack.

“We hold a common view about taking up all problems together and creating solutions for them,” Mr Babacan said.

Washington is keen to broker a diplomatic solution to the crisis to avert any cross-border military activity. An incursion would bring instability to what has been the calmest part of Iraq, and could set a precedent for other countries, like Iran, which also have conflicts with Kurdish rebels.

The current crisis began last month when a PKK ambush left 12 Turkish soldiers dead and a further eight missing. Skirmishes have continued ever since on the border between Turkey and the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq.

Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi Prime Minister, will tell the Turkish Government at a meeting in Istanbul tomorrow that Baghdad is ready to act jointly with its neighbour to crack down on PKK members operating inside the country.

The Iraqi Government insists that some steps have already been taken with the Kurdish Regional Government setting up extra checkpoints outside cities as well as beefing up airport security and sharing intelligence from yesterday.

Ms Rice will also attend tomorrow’s regional meeting on Iraq to be held in Istanbul. The meeting is designed to discuss the overall security situation in Iraq, with organisers stressing a desire to avoid letting the PKK crisis dominate.

Demonstrators in Istanbul have already begun marching against her imminent arrival. Around 200 marchers chanted “Down with American imperialism,” and “Get out Rice,” as they carried an effigy of Rice and a sign saying “Unite against the United States.”

Street protests have been a feature of the PKK crisis as thousands have protested against an ameliorative approach towards the Kurds demanding that the Turkish Government take immediate military action.

Iran

In London representatives of the US, Russia, China, France and the UK met today to discuss imposing a third round of sanctions on Iran. Tehran has refused to halt its uranium enrichment programme claiming that the material is intended solely for power generation rather than a nuclear weapons programme.

The United States, represented by undersecretary of state for political affairs Nicholas Burns, wants to make progress in outlining a sanctions resolution, but Russia and China oppose the introduction of further punitive measures.

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