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ANKARA, Jan 27 (AFP) - 13h46 - The United States
will bear the consequences of ethnic turmoil in
Kirkuk if it fails to prevent the oil-rich city in
northern Iraq from falling under Kurdish control,
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned
Thursday.
"Any wrong move in Kirkuk will have a negative
impact on peace in Iraq in the future," Erdogan told
reporters at Ankara airport before he flew out to
Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum.
"The United Nations, America and the other coalition
forces should never allow an unfavorable structure
there," he said. "If they turn a blind eye to such a
mistake, they will pay the bill in the future."
Ankara is vehemently opposed to Kurdish control of
Kirkuk, which many Kurds want to incorporate into
their enclave in northern Iraq and even see as the
capital of a future independent Kurdish state, a
nightmare scenario for Iraq's neighbors.
Separatist moves in northern Iraq, Ankara fears, may
spill over to adjoining southeastern Turkey, which
is home to its own large and restive Kurdish
community.
Erdogan's remarks were the latest in a series of
warnings issued by Ankara since mid-January when the
Iraqi Kurds reached a deal with Baghdad that cleared
the way for an estimated 100,000 Kurds said to have
been expelled from Kirkuk under Saddam Hussein, to
vote for the local government in Sunday's elections.
The deal effectively tipped the balance of power to
the Kurds, fanning ethnic tensions in the city,
which is also home to a large number of Arabs and
Turkmens, a community of Turkish descent backed by
Ankara.
Turkey has charged that more Kurds than those
expelled in the past have now settled in the city
and registered for the elections.
Critics here believe that the population shift is
taking place with the tacit approval of the United
States.
AP
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