<p>President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday urged the Iraqi government to eradicate the presence of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) to keep it from launching attacks inside Turkey.</p>.<p>Erdogan said following talks with visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi that the two countries viewed the PKK as one of their "common enemies".</p>.<p>The PKK, listed as a terror group by Turkey and much of the international community, has for decades used Iraq's mountainous areas as a springboard for its insurgency against the Turkish state.</p>.<p>The Turkish army regularly conducts cross-border operations and air raids on PKK bases in northern Iraq, which has put the two neighbours' relations under strain.</p>.<p>Turkey says it uses its right to self-defence.</p>.<p>"We agreed to continue our fight against our common enemies -- Daesh, PKK and FETO terror organisations," Erdogan told a joint televised news conference with al-Kadhimi, who became prime minister in May.</p>.<p>He was referring to the Islamic State (IS) group, the Kurdish militants and a movement led by the US-based Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen, known in Turkey as FETO and blamed by Ankara for the 2016 failed coup attempt against Erdogan.</p>.<p>"Our region will not reach peace unless the head of terror is crushed," Erdogan said. "There is no place for terror in the future of Iraq, Turkey and Syria."</p>.<p>Al-Kadhimi said his country would not allow any terror group to use Iraqi soil for attacks inside Turkey, and that it was cooperating with Ankara to confront terror groups.</p>.<p>"Iraq has a clear stance in condemning any action threatening Turkey or using the Iraqi territory to threaten Turkey's national security," al-Kadhimi said.</p>.<p>The PKK's insurgency against the Turkish state is believed to have killed tens of thousands of people since being launched in 1984.</p>.<p>The group's fighters have sheltered in Iraq's mountains, where manned warplanes and ground troops have struggled to reach them.</p>.<p>Ankara has increasingly reverted to the use of drone warfare to attack the PKK bases.</p>
<p>President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday urged the Iraqi government to eradicate the presence of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) to keep it from launching attacks inside Turkey.</p>.<p>Erdogan said following talks with visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi that the two countries viewed the PKK as one of their "common enemies".</p>.<p>The PKK, listed as a terror group by Turkey and much of the international community, has for decades used Iraq's mountainous areas as a springboard for its insurgency against the Turkish state.</p>.<p>The Turkish army regularly conducts cross-border operations and air raids on PKK bases in northern Iraq, which has put the two neighbours' relations under strain.</p>.<p>Turkey says it uses its right to self-defence.</p>.<p>"We agreed to continue our fight against our common enemies -- Daesh, PKK and FETO terror organisations," Erdogan told a joint televised news conference with al-Kadhimi, who became prime minister in May.</p>.<p>He was referring to the Islamic State (IS) group, the Kurdish militants and a movement led by the US-based Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen, known in Turkey as FETO and blamed by Ankara for the 2016 failed coup attempt against Erdogan.</p>.<p>"Our region will not reach peace unless the head of terror is crushed," Erdogan said. "There is no place for terror in the future of Iraq, Turkey and Syria."</p>.<p>Al-Kadhimi said his country would not allow any terror group to use Iraqi soil for attacks inside Turkey, and that it was cooperating with Ankara to confront terror groups.</p>.<p>"Iraq has a clear stance in condemning any action threatening Turkey or using the Iraqi territory to threaten Turkey's national security," al-Kadhimi said.</p>.<p>The PKK's insurgency against the Turkish state is believed to have killed tens of thousands of people since being launched in 1984.</p>.<p>The group's fighters have sheltered in Iraq's mountains, where manned warplanes and ground troops have struggled to reach them.</p>.<p>Ankara has increasingly reverted to the use of drone warfare to attack the PKK bases.</p>