Bush calls for quick end to Turkish N.Iraq operation

By Kristin Roberts and Paul de Bendern

ANKARA (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush urged NATO ally Turkey on Thursday to end its offensive against Kurdish PKK rebels in northern Iraq quickly, but Washington said it would not threaten to withdraw intelligence help.

The United States fears prolonging the Turkish operation, which began on Feb. 21, will undermine stability in the region, particularly Iraq, though it backs Ankara's mission to crush the PKK and late last year began providing significant intelligence.

"The Turks need to move, move quickly, achieve their objective and get out," Bush told a White House news conference.

His comments came shortly after U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates wrapped up a brief visit to Ankara where he failed to pin down a possible timetable for a Turkish withdrawal.

Before arriving in Ankara he had made clear that he wanted the mission to be short -- days or a week or two, not months.

Turkey's military General Staff General Yasar Buyukanit was quoted by Turkish television as saying: "A short time is a relative concept, it could be one day or one year."

But Gates, who held talks with Buyukanit, Turkey's president and Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, played down any differences, saying the United States and Turkey had shared interests.

"I think that those interests are probably not advanced by making threats, by threatening to cut off intelligence."