ANKARA, November
5, -- Turkey's foreign minister warned Iraqi Kurdish
leaders in an interview published Sunday not to
pursue a dream of a separate Kurdistan state in the
north of Iraq.
In comments published in Hurriyet newspaper, Foreign
Minister Abdullah Gul also slammed what Turkey
regards as Kurdish designs on the oil-rich city of
Kirkuk, and again called on Iraq not to support
rebels of the autonomy-seeking Kurdistan Workers
Party, or PKK, who have been launching attacks on
Turkey from bases in northern Iraq.
"Don't run after a Kurdistan. Forget your dream of
taking Kirkuk. Don't protect the PKK," Hurriyet
newspaper quoted Abdullah Gul as saying in an
interview published Sunday.
"You are on the brink of a historic mistake," Gul
was quoted as saying. |
Abdullah Gul, Turkey's foreign minister |
|
Turkey, which shares a border with Iraq, has its own
large and restive Kurdish population and is wary of
any separatist moves among Iraqi Kurds, fearing they
could encourage Turkey's own Kurdish population to
join their Iraqi counterparts in a fight for an
independent state.
Turkish troops have been battling the PKK for more
than two decades in Turkey's mountainous,
Kurdish-populated southeast.
The Kurds have gradually been carving out more
autonomy in the north of Iraq, to Turkey's dismay.
They have also been demanding the extension of their
region into the Kurdish-majority northern oil center
of Kirkuk and boost prospects for independence.
Gul said Kurdish leaders, President Jalal Talabani
and Massoud Barzani, President of the Kurdish
region, should not count on United States' presence
in the region to push forward dreams of creating a
separate state.
"(The Kurdish leaders) should not forget that Turkey
will remain in the region for ever. The United
States, on the other hand, will leave after a
while," Gul was quoted as saying.
The minister was apparently referring to the
considerable influence the Kurdish leaders have been
able wield with the Americans as heads of one of
Iraq's most stable areas. Kurdish leaders have been
key mediators between Iraq's bickering Sunni and
Shiite Muslim Arabs in negotiations.
AP
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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