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 "It's very important that the Turks make this operation as short as possible and then leave," Gates said before departing India. "They have to be mindful of Iraqi sovereignty. I measure quick in terms of days, a week or two, something like that, not months."
Gates said he also will ask Turkish leaders in a series of meetings Thursday to address some of the complaints of the Kurds, and move from combat to economic and political initiatives to solve differences with them.
It was the first time that Gates put any time limit on the Turkish incursion launched into Iraq last Thursday against separatist rebels from the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK. The rebels are fighting for autonomy in the largely Kurdish region of southeastern Turkey, and have carried out attacks from northern Iraq.
The Iraqi government demanded for the first time that Turkey immediately withdraw from northern Iraq, warning Tuesday it feared an ongoing incursion could lead to clashes with the official forces of the semiautonomous Kurdish region.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the operation would only end "once its goal has been reached."
In other comments just before leading New Delhi, Gates said the U.S. is in the "early stages" of discussions with India on a missile defense system and is taking about doing a joint analysis to determine what India's needs will be and how the two countries can cooperate.
Gates also said the Indian government needs to move quickly to approve a landmark nuclear cooperation pact between India and the United States. "The clock is ticking in terms of how much time is available to get all the different aspects of this agreement implemented," he told reporters.
Gates said he has not heard from the Turks on how long they intend to continue the attacks in Iraq, and does not know whether the U.S. would consider halting its intelligence assistance to the Turks if it goes on too long.
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 He also said it is critically important for the Turks to communicate closely with the Iraqi government as well as the semiautonomous Kurdish leaders in northern Iraq. And he repeated contentions he made earlier this week, that military action alone will not solve the problems there.
"There certainly is a place for security operations, but these also need to be accompanied with economic and political initiatives that begin to deal with some of the issues that provide a favorable local environment where the PKK can operate," Gates said. "They need to address some of the issues and complaints that some of the Kurds have and move this in a nonmilitary direction in order to get a long term solution."
Gates said that since the U.S. provides intelligence and surveillance help to the Turks, other help might also be possible for economic and other efforts.
"If we can play a constructive role in some of these other areas and the Turks would like our help, we certainly ought to give that consideration," he said.
Gates, who is on an eight-day, around-the-world trip to four countries, spoke at length about the improving relations between India and the U.S. But while noting the U.S. must be respectful of local Indian politics, he said New Delhi must act soon on the nuclear pact to give the U.S. Senate time to ratify it.
Talks between the two countries have stalled on the nuclear deal, which would allow the U.S. to send nuclear fuel and technology to India. The agreement would reverse decades of U.S. anti-proliferation policy with a country that has tested nuclear weapons and refused to sign nonproliferation treaties.
[Associated
Press; By LOLITA C. BALDOR]
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