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Iraqi leader arrives in Turkey to discuss
measures against Kurdish rebels
16.11.2006
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BAGHDAD, Iraq,
November 16, -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki
arrived in Turkey on Thursday for a two-day visit to
discuss the deteriorating security situation in his
country and Ankara's fight against Iraq-based
Turkish Kurdish guerrillas.
The two-day meeting, at the invitation of the
Turkish government, was called to discuss ways of
improving bilateral relations between the
neighboring countries.
Al-Maliki will meet with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc and other
officials to also discuss ways of improving
bilateral relations between the neighboring
countries.
But al-Maliki and top Turkish officials also were
likely to discuss the Iraq war and the
semiautonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq on
Turkey's border.
Turkey is worried that increasing ethnic and
sectarian clashes are pulling Iraq toward a civil
war that could break the country apart in several
autonomous sections and lead to the emergence of an
independent Kurdish state on its border. Turkey
fears such a development could encourage separatist
Kurds in Turkey to revolt
Kurdish rebels have been fighting for autonomy in
southeastern Turkey (Kurdistan part of Turkey) for
more than two decades, often slipping across the
mountainous border from training camps in northern
Iraq.
More than 37,000 people have died from the fighting
since 1984, when the rebels took up arms against the
Turkish state for self-rule in the country's mainly
Kurdish southeast of Turkey.
The Iraqi delegation that al-Maliki took to Turkey
included:
Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, a Kurd.
Finance Minister Bayan Jabr
Electricity Minister Karim Waheed
Trade Minister Abed-Falah al-Sudani
Agriculture Minister and Acting Transport Minister
Yarrub Nazim
Minister of State for National Security Sherwan al-Waili,
and some legislators. |
Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (L) and his
Iraqi counterpart Nuri al-Maliki review an honour
guard during a welcoming ceremony in Ankara,
November 16, 2006
Photo:REUTERS
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, left, chats
with his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul in Ankara,
Turkey, Thursday, Nov. 16, 2006.
Photo:AP |
AP | Agencies
The use of the term "Kurdistan" is vigorously
rejected due to its alleged political implications
by the Republic of Turkey, which does not recognize
the existence of a "Turkish Kurdistan".
Others estimate as many as 40 million Kurds live in
Big Kurdistan (Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Iran, Armenia),
which covers an area as big as France, about half of
all Kurds which estimate to 20 million live in
Turkey.
The Kurdish flag flown officially in Iraqi Kurdistan but
unofficially flown by Kurds in Armenia. The flag is
banned in Iran, Syria, and Turkey where flying it is
a criminal offence"
Southeastern Turkey:
North Kurdistan (
Kurdistan-Turkey) wikipedia
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