Turkey's foreign minister called Wednesday for tougher U.S. action against autonomy-seeking Turkish Kurds based in Iraq's north. Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul complained in an interview that the mountains of northern Iraq have become a "safe haven for terrorist activities against Turkey." "We hope that the United States will pay good attention to this and will deal with this problem," said Gul, who was on a three-day official visit to Beijing. "We are expecting more." Gul also appealed for unity in Iraq following elections last weekend for a 275-seat National Assembly and 18 provincial legislatures. The assembly will pick a new prime minister. "Before the war, there were three Iraqs _ north, south and center," Gul said. "Now Iraq is united. Our common goal is to keep Iraq united." "Arabs, Kurds, Turks _ they are the main part of the Iraqi population," he said. "We just want them to be happy over there. We don't want them to fight. We don't want one side to oppress the other side." Gul was to meet Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing and Commerce Minister Bo Xilai. Gul said he was looking forward to an upcoming visit to Turkey by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. "Consultations are very much important," he said. "We will cover all areas." Gul said Turkey was also preparing to argue its case for full membership in the 25-nation European Union. "There are no priorities," he said. "Everything is important."
