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ANKARA, 5 February 2005 — A leading Iraqi Kurd
told Turkey it had no right to meddle in Iraq’s
affairs and said any military intervention by Ankara
aimed at stalling the creation of a Kurdish state
would end in “disaster”.
Turkey has expressed alarm at what it sees as a
drive by the Kurds of northern Iraq to cement their
autonomy and possibly to seek full independence from
Baghdad. Ankara fears such moves could re-ignite
separatism among the Kurds of southeast Turkey.
Turkey is especially concerned that the Kurds may
wrest control of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk at the
expense of local Arabs and Turkish-speaking Turkmen.
It has said it reserves the right to take
unspecified action to protect its interests.
“Turkey should not intervene in our domestic
affairs. The result of such an intervention would be
a disaster for all parties,” Masoud Barzani, head of
the Kurdistan Democratic Party, told CNN Turk in an
interview late on Thursday.
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and other
senior officials have stepped up their criticism of
the Kurds since last Sunday’s historic elections in
Iraq, saying Ankara could not stand idly by if
Kirkuk fell into Kurdish hands.
Erdogan has stopped short of saying Turkey would
send troops into northern Iraq, a highly risky move
which could pit them against the occupying forces of
Ankara’s NATO ally the United States, but Turkish
media say all options are under review.
Turkey’s top-selling Hurriyet daily alleged
yesterday that Iraqi Kurdish authorities ferried
Kurdish voters into Kirkuk to boost their share of
the vote during Sunday’s elections.
Barzani reiterated the Iraqi Kurdish view that
Kirkuk is a Kurdish city, but said the Kurds would
always respect the rights and identity of their Arab
and Turkmen neighbors.
Erdogan is expected to raise Turkish concerns during
planned talks with new US Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice when she visits Ankara this
evening. The Kurdish issue has badly strained
traditionally warm ties between the two countries.
Reuters
Iraqi Kurds voted almost unanimously for
independence in an informal referendum held along
side last weekend’s elections, prompting Barzani to
say Kurdish self-rule was inevitable if not
imminent.
Reuters
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