Barzani: War not answer to PKK

Battling an insurgency waged by the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party with 21st century weaponry won't get Turkey very far, a Kurdish regional leader said. Ankara announced last month it was deploying unmanned drones over its southern skies to patrol the movement of Kurdish rebels in the area. The Turkish Parliament recently approved a measure that sanctioned cross-border raids to take on elements of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, known by its Kurdish acronym PKK. Masoud Barzani, president of the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq, said he'd rather see a political solution to the conflict. "My own experience (with guerrilla warfare) tells me that no matter how much might and technology you have, conducting raids (against guerrillas) is very difficult," Barzani was quoted by Turkish newspaper Today's Zaman as saying. A move to settle simmering issues with the Kurdish minority was upended in 2009 when a court banned the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party from politics because of alleged ties to the PKK. Nevertheless, the Kurdish leader said war isn't in the interest of the Kurdish or Turkish peoples. "My message is very clear that we have to pursue peaceful means and not think about other alternatives," he was quoted as saying.