ANKARA, Jan. 11 (Xinhuanet) -- Turkey and Iraq on Tuesday agreed tojointly fight against the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK).A joint statement issued after a tripartite meeting of Turkish, Iraqi and US officials on Iraq's security said Turkey and Iraq have come to an agreement on co-fighting the terrorist organization. "The US officials welcomed the agreement between Turkey and Iraqon the fight against the PKK," said Turkey's Iraq Special Representative Ambassador Osman Koruturk, who read out the statement after the five-hour meeting.

    "The US officials showed willingness to cooperate in the fight against the PKK," he said.

    The three-way meeting, attended by Koruturk, Iraq's Deputy Foreign Minister Hamid El Bayati, and US Department of State Deputy Undersecretary Ambassador Laura Kennedy, was aimed at stopping terrorist threats to Turkey from the PKK bastions in northern Iraq and facilitating cooperation among the three nations to wipe away terrorist cells in the region.

    The PKK, also known as KADEK or Kongra-Gel, launched an armed campaign for an ethnic homeland in southeastern Turkey in 1984,sparking decades of strife that has claimed more than 30,000 lives, mainly Kurds.

    Though fighting fell off sharply with the capture of the PKK commander Abdullah Ocalan in 1999, violence between the guerrillas and Turkish security forces has been on the rise since the rebels called off a six-year unilateral truce last June.

    The Turkish government refuses to negotiate with the PKK, which it deems as a terrorist organization. Enditem