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Talabani slams Assad for his support of
Turkish incursion in Iraqi Kurdistan
20.10.2007 |
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Iraq
says Syria 'crossed red line' over Kurds
October
20, 2007
Sulaimaniyah, Kurdistan region 'Iraq', --
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani slammed his Syrian
counterpart Bashar al-Assad's support for a possible
Turkish incursion into Kurdistan region in northern
Iraq to tackle Turkey's Kurdish PKK rebels, a
newspaper said on Saturday.
"President Assad's remarks are dangerous and run
contrary to the spirit of Arab solidarity,"
Talabani, himself a Kurd, was quoted as saying in an
interview with the Saudi daily Asharq Al-Awsat.
"Usually I would refrain from commenting on Syrian
positions in order to preserve our historic ties,
but this time I am unable to support this dangerous
crossing of red lines."
On Wednesday Assad said he would
support a Turkish incursion
into Kurdistan region 'northern Iraq'
against Turkish Kurdish PKK rebels, calling such
action Ankara's "legitimate right."
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Iraqi President Jalal Talabani (R) and Syrian
president Bashar al-Assad (L) |
Syria and Turkey both oppose any Iraqi Kurdish
attempt to break away from the central government in
Baghdad, fearing that this could fuel separatist
ambitions among their own Kurds.
"How can the president of an Arab state support
military intervention against the Iraqi republic?"
Talabani was quoted as asking. "This is a serious
matter and damaging to relations between the two
countries.
"The Syrian president should have commented as the
Americans and Europeans did, saying they preferred a
diplomatic solution, even if he understands the
Turkish position."
On Wednesday the Turkish parliament authorised
military strikes in autonomous region of Kurdistan
'northern Iraq' within a year against bases of the
separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which
uses the region as a springboard for attacks on
Turkish targets across the border.
"I have personally visited Syria, and our two
countries have joint commissions working on current
projects. I am really astounded at this unfriendly
stance taken by Syria," Talabani told the daily.
Assad is the first Arab leader to come out in favour
of Turkish action against PKK bases in Iraqi
Kurdistan.
Since 1984 the PKK took up arms for self-rule in the
country's mainly Kurdish southeast of Turkey, PKK is
listed as a terrorist group by Ankara, US and EU.
Assad later finetuned his position, calling on
Ankara to give Baghdad a chance to tackle the
rebels.
"The problem cannot be resolved by being considered
only as a military and security problem. Results
cannot be obtained without the backing of political
efforts," the Turkish newspaper Radikal quoted him
as saying on Friday.
In January, when Talabani made the first visit to
Syria by an Iraqi president for nearly 30 years,
Assad pledged that Damascus would work with the
Iraqi authorities to "eradicate terrorism."
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