Iraqi President Jalal Talabani insisted that Kurdish rebels would not be tolerated inside its borders and sought to allay tensions following neighboring Turkey's eight-day military mission inside Iraq.
Speaking during a visit to Turkey on Friday, Talabani said that Iraq was continuing to put pressure on Kurdish rebels to lay down their arms. Talabani said the two countries would discuss wide-ranging security measures to combat their threat.
The visit by Talabani, himself a Kurd, reflected diplomatic efforts to ease tensions after an operation that some had feared could spill into a wider conflict between two US allies.
The Turkish military ended its offensive a week ago against Kurdish militants who launch attacks on Turkey from rebel bases in northern Iraq.
"Iraq wants strategic and solid relations with Turkey," Talabani said. "We have exerted pressure. Either they should lay down arms or they should leave the area. We are going to discuss wide-ranging security agreements."
Turkish President Abdullah Gul called on the rebels to lay down their arms, saying that Turkey would never tolerate those who engage in terrorism.
In response to a question on Friday about whether Turkey would consider nonmilitary ways to end the conflict with autonomy-seeking Kurdish rebels, Gul said: "Whoever has a gun in his hand should lay his weapon down; the state will never tolerate this."
In the latest reported violence in the area, suspected Kurdish rebels killed a civilian and took another hostage on Friday in a southern Turkish province near the border with Syria, a local official told state-run media.
Rebels hiding in a mountainous part of Hatay province killed the man after forcing him to bring them provisions, Governor Ahmet Kayhan told the Anatolia news agency. Rebels accused the man of informing security forces of their whereabouts, Kayhan said.
A friend of the slain man was kept hostage by rebels and security forces were trying to locate the insurgents, Kayhan said.
Along with military ties, energy cooperation and other economic issues are on top of the agenda for talks between the two countries, Gul's office said.
The Iraqi delegation visiting Turkey included the country's ministers of finance, oil and industry, as well as the deputy foreign minister, according to the independent Voices of Iraq news agency.
Several other senior political figures were accompanying Talabani, who was making his first trip to Turkey since his 2005 election, the news agency said.
Turkey's previous president, Ahmet Necdet Sezer, declined to invite Talabani to visit amid tension over the activities of Kurdish rebels based in northern Iraq.
Some in Turkey accused Iraqi Kurdish leaders of not doing enough to curb the rebels.
Turkey launched its cross-border ground operation against rebels from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) on Feb. 21. It pulled out eight days later.
Turkey is concerned that the example set by the Iraqi Kurds, who run a virtual mini-state within Iraq, could encourage Turkey's own Kurdish population to seek a similar arrangement.
During Turkey's ground incursion, Iraq demanded an immediate withdrawal and warned of the potential for clashes between Turkish troops and security forces of the semiautonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq.
Talabani was greeted by the Turkish deputy prime minister, Cemil Cicek, in a low-key arrival at the airport in Ankara. No honor guard was present, and no military ceremony was held when he arrived at the presidential palace.
State leaders usually receive such tributes when they visit the Turkish capital. Some Turkish television news stations noted the absence of honor guards, but did not speculate on whether the Turkish military had chosen to shun Talabani or whether the two governments had agreed to avoid military symbolism so soon after the ground incursion.
The Turkish military, which is receiving US intelligence, said that it inflicted heavy losses on a large group of Kurdish rebels in Iraq's Zap region.
The PKK has disputed the claim.
The PKK has said it wants political and cultural autonomy for the predominantly Kurdish region of southeastern Turkey. The conflict started in 1984 and has killed tens of thousands of people.
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