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ANKARA, June 15 (AFP) - 13h24 - Turkey on
Wednesday termed "meaningless" the selection of
Massoud Barzani as president of Iraqi Kurdistan
before a new Iraqi constitution outlining the
country's new administrative system is drawn up and
approved at a popular vote.
Barzani's selection on Sunday as regional president
of the three provinces of Sulaimaniyah, Arbil and
Dohuk in mainly Kurdish northern Iraq "does not
carry much meaning," foreign ministry spokesman
Namik Tan told reporters.
"The future structure of Iraq will take its final
shape only after completion of the constitution and
will gain legitimacy with the social consent that
the Iraqi people will display by approving the
constitution," Tan said.
Ankara is suspicious that the Kurds in neighboring
northern Iraq are seeking to lay the foundations of
future independence in the wake of Saddam Hussein's
ouster.
It fears such moves will set a destabilizing example
for its own restive Kurds across the border and
spark new tensions in the region, where Iran and
Syria are also home to Kurdish minorities.
"Turkey has always said that the protection of
Iraq's political unity and territorial integrity is
necessary for both its own national interests and
the well-being of the region, and will continue to
expend efforts in this direction," Tan said.
He stressed that Iraq's current laws foresee a
federal system, but one "defined according to
geographical and administrative criteria and not on
sectarian and ethnic bases."
The interim government in Baghdad is still trying to
work out the make-up of a committee to prepare the
constitution that will satisfy all its ethnic and
religious groups.
The committee has an August 15 deadline to draw up
the basic law for post-Saddam Iraq, but with the
option of announcing a one-off six-month delay by
August 1.
The document is due to be put to referendum by
October 15, ahead of elections to choose a fully
mandated government by December 15.
AFP
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