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Turkey protests U.S. Kurdish
policy
ANKARA, Turkey, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- The Turkish
government has protested the Bush administration's
reception of Massoud Barzani, the leader of the Iraq
Kurdistan Democratic Party.
When President George W. Bush received Barzani in
the White House last week, he referred to him as
"President." But the Journal of the Turkish Weekly
reported that the Turkish Foreign Ministry has
protested that referring to Barzani in such a manner
threatens the unity of Iraq.
In Ankara, Undersecretary Nabi Sensoy summoned U.S.
Charge d'Affaires Nancy McEldowney to the Foreign
Ministry, where Sensoy formally asked her to explain
"whose president" Barzani was welcomed as at the
White House. The official U.S. reply stated, "Barzani
carries the title of President of the Kurdistan
Region of Iraq. This is why Bush referred to him as
'President.' President Bush spoke directly to
Barzani about Turkey's sensitivity towards Iraq's
geographic and political unity."
The Turkish government has also made a formal
request to Iraq and the Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic
Party to remove a Kurdish flag, which was put up
late last week over the Halil Ibrahim border
crossing point between Turkey and (Kurdistan)
northern Iraq.
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