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Iraqi Kurdistan parliament meets to debate
Turkish measures
24.10.2007 |
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October
24, 2007
Sulaimaniyah, Kurdistan region 'Iraq',--
The Iraqi Kurdistan parliament will meet on
Wednesday to debate the Turkish parliament's
decision sanctioning Turkish forces to push deep
into the Iraqi autonomous Kurdistan region's
territories to hunt down gunmen of the Turkey's
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Kurdish legislator
Suzan Shihab said.
The Kurdish parliament is composed of 111 members
mostly in two blocs: the Green Bloc of Iraqi
President Jalal Talabani's Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan (PUK) and the Yellow Bloc of Iraqi
Kurdistan Region Massoud Barzani's Kurdistan
Democratic Party (KDP), in addition to other blocs.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said his
government, in association with the Turkish
government, was determined to deal with the issue of
"terrorism" posing against Iraq.
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The Iraqi Kurdistan region parliament in the capital
city of Erbil |
"Iraq would take whatever measures necessary to stop
the activities of the PKK. The military option would
be the final measure in this respect," Zebari said
in a joint press conference held in Baghdad on
Tuesday with his Turkish counterpart Ali Babacan,
who earlier arrived in Iraq.
"The two sides discussed during a frank and clear
session of talks all aspects of bilateral relations
between the two neighboring countries," Zebari said,
adding his government did not receive a list of
wanted Iraqis on charges of backing the PKK. "We
only received a list of wanted PKK fighters," Zebari,
a Kurd, noted.
The Turkish government had offered a week ago
several demands by a U.S. go-between delegation
including what it called "Kurdish officials accused
of backing the PKK." Zebari termed as "serious and
complicated" the current crisis between Iraq and
Turkey.
"We hope that matters would not reach the military
option stage. We don't want to have yet another
circle of violence in northern Iraq," Zebari said.
The Turkish foreign minister, for his part, affirmed
that the (central) Iraqi government was the one his
country is dealing with to defuse the crisis. "The
Turkish government's only interlocutor is the Iraqi
government," Babacan said. Ankara had rejected
having a dialogue with the government Iraqi
Kurdistan region, asserting that a dialogue should
be exclusively with the Iraqi and U.S. sides.
Commenting on the PKK's announced unilateral
cease-fire, Babacan said "a cease-fire has to be
between two states, not between a state and a
terrorist organization. We have a serious issue here
– one of terrorism – so we have to be careful about
the wording Babacan said his country was not ready
to lose ties with neighboring Iraq for the sake of a
"terrorist" group, noting "we expect our neighbors
to help us combat terrorism."
"During the Iraq neighbors' interior ministers
conference, to be held in Kuwait on Tuesday and
attended by Turkey's interior minister, will discuss
all issues including the next Ankara conference of
Iraq's neighboring countries," Babacan said.
Zebari said the Iraqi government would never allow
any group, including the PKK, to "poison" bilateral
relations with Turkey. "We stressed (during the
talks) the importance of jointly combating
terrorism," Zebari said, adding he agreed with the
Turkish foreign minister on the need to "take
practical steps to deal with the crisis in a wise
way."
Zebari emphasized the Iraqi government's
determination to cooperate with the Turkish
government to work out a solution to the border
problem and "the terrorism that threatens Turkey but
through direct dialogue."
Dr Mahmoud Othman, a member of the KC, the second
largest bloc in the Iraqi parliament with 55 out of
a total 275 seats, told VOI. "The U.S. must be aware
of the magnitude of threats posing on a daily basis
against the territories of Iraqi Kurdistan Region,"
said Othman, accusing the Turkish government of
trying to throw a monkey wrench into the democratic
experiment of the Kurdistan region.
"If Turkey is really keen on fighting PKK members,
why shouldn't it fight them on its lands now that
there is an intensive presence of PKK inside
Turkey," wondered Othman.
On whether it is possible to reach solutions for the
PKK issue during the Iraq neighboring countries
conference, scheduled for early next month in the
Turkish city of Istanbul, Othman replied "we wish to
hear radical solutions satisfactory to all parties
inside the conference."
Earlier on Sunday, the Iraqi parliament called on
members of the PKK to leave Iraqi territories,
stressing their rejection to the
Turkish threats to use force against Iraq.
Iraqi Kurdistan Region President Barzani said the
Kurdish forces would never be party to a conflict
between Turkey and the PKK.
"However, if the conflict directly entangled us or
the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, we will definitely
defend ourselves," Barzani said in a joint press
conference with Talabani in the resort of Salah
al-Din, Erbil province, the headquarters of the
autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan government.
Barzani appealed to Turkey to resort to the language
of dialogue as a means of resolving pending issues
between the two sides. "If Turkey resorted to
dialogue, we would do whatever we can to reach a
peaceful solution with it and in the meantime come
up with a reasonable solution for the PKK issue in a
tranquil atmosphere," the Kurdish leader said.
Asked whether the Iraqi Kurdish leaders were ready
to consider the PKK as a "terrorist" organization,
Barzani replied that if Turkey "offered a peaceful
resolution and the PKK rejected it then, we would
certainly consider the PKK as a terrorist
organization."
Talabani said during the news conference that he is
scheduled to meet the Turkish foreign minister on
Tuesday to discuss with him "means to have
appeasement on the Iraqi-Turkish borders."
"We would say that we don't want or wish a war with
Turkey. This is our position," he said, terming as
"unjustifiable escalations" the unrest on the joint
borders.
Talabani rejected Turkish demands to hand over
leaders of the PKK and other Kurdish leaders.
"The PKK leaders are in mountainous areas we are
unable to reach. As far as other Kurdish leaders, we
will never hand over any Kurdish man come what may.
This is a dream that will never come true," Talabani
stressed.
VOI
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