|
Turkey raises Kurdistan Flag issue in Iraq with
Annan
6.9.2006
|
|
|
|
ANKARA, September
6 ,-- Turkey expressed its concern Wednesday to U.N.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan over the decision by
the leader of the Kurdistan region of Iraq to adopt
a separate flag, calling it "extremely dangerous."
Turkish leaders meeting with Annan told the
secretary-general that the issue would heighten
tensions in Iraq, a Foreign Ministry spokesman,
Namik Tan, said at a news conference.
"This is extremely dangerous," Tan said.
Turkey, which shares a border with Kurdistan
(northern 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.
On the same issue President of Kurdistan region said
earlier "We want our ties with Turkey to continue in
a friendly and brotherly way. I do not want there
ever to be a problem between us. We are a family,"
"The decision to raise only the Kurdistan flag instead
of the present Iraqi flag in Kurdistan came after
consultation with both President (Jalal) Talabani (a
fellow Kurd) and the Iraqi prime minister. I did not
take the decision myself," Barzani insisted.
Turkish troops have been battling an
autonomy-seeking group, the Kurdistan Workers'
Party, or PKK, for more than two decades in Turkey's
mountainous, Kurdish-populated southeast of Turkey
(Kurdistan-Turkey). The PKK is on the U.S. list of
terrorist organizations.
Tan said steps would be taken to resolve the flag
issue in Iraq, but did not elaborate.
"Those involved in Iraq will see that this is not a
helpful thing and suitable steps will be taken," he
said. "This subject will be solved with agreement
and unity from all groups in Iraq."
Turkey has been a staunch advocate of keeping Iraq
unified following the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of the
country.
The Kurds have gradually been carving out more
autonomy in Kurdistan the (north of Iraq), however,
as sectarian divisions elsewhere threaten to split
the country. |
Iraq's Kurdistan president Massoud Barzani is
flanked by an Iraqi flag from the 1960's (R) and the
present Kurdistan flag (L) as he speaks during a
conference in Erbil, September 3, 2006. The leader
of Iraq's ethnic Kurds brandished the threat of
secession on Sunday as a row with the Baghdad
government over the flying of the Iraqi national
flag exposed an increasingly bitter rift. After the
Kurdish regional government banned the use of the
Iraqi flag on public buildings
Photo: Reuters |
Tan said a U.S.-appointed special envoy for
countering the PKK, former Air Force Gen. Joseph
Ralston, would arrive in Turkey for consultations
next week.
Turkey is expected to appoint its own coordinator in
the coming days.
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 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
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 