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PUK: Erdogan's remarks on Kirkuk not
helpful 20.11.2006
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November 20, 2006
The autonomous Kurdistan administration in northern
Iraq said remarks made by the Turkish government
with regard to the oil-rich (northern Iraqi)
Kurdistani city of Kirkuk would not help a solution
to the Kirkuk problem but instead would create
mischief between Turkey and Iraq.
Erdogan's remarks are not in the interest of the two
sides, a spokesman for the Iraqi Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan (PUK) led by Iraqi President Jalal
Talabani reportedly said on PUK's Web site.
The future status of the ethnically volatile
northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk dominated Iraq's
visiting Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's talks with
the Turkish leadership in Ankara last week.
Addressing Ankara's fears that Iraqi Kurds are
trying to take control of Kirkuk as part of their
push for an independent state on Turkey's border,
Erdogan urged power sharing among the ethnic groups
in Kirkuk.
The PUK spokesman said Turkish-Iraqi relations
should be based on respect and added: “The
statements made by the Turkish prime minister will
not serve the purpose for a solution to the Kirkuk
problem, which is Iraq's domestic matter. It will be
resolved under Article 140 of Iraq's Constitution.”
The former Iraqi president forced about 250,000
Kurdish residents to give up their homes to Arabs in
the 1970s, to "Arabize" the city and the region's
oil industry.
Kirkuk city is not under the full control of
Kurdistan Regional Government administration. A
referendum is to be held in late 2007 to decide
whether the oil-rich Kurdish province should be
annexed to the safe semiautonomous Kurdistan region
in Iraq's north.
turkishdailynews com.tr
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