U.S. President George W. Bush urged Turkey to look at alternatives to a military opposition in dealing with Kurdish rebel forces in northern Iraq, he said at a White House press conference on Wednesday. Bush's statements came shortly before Turkey's parliament approved a possible cross-border offensive that would authorize an attack into Iraq sometime in the next year, Associated Press (AP) reported. “We are making it very clear to Turkey that we don't think it is in their interest to send troops into Iraq,” Bush said at the conference. Meanwhile, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said that his country is “determined” to end the Kurdistan Workers Party's (PKK's) activities in Iraqi territories, but still urged Turkey to “seek a diplomatic solution and not a military one in dealing with the terrorist threats that target it,” he said.
