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Iraqi Kurdish leader Qader Aziz says he is
not on Turkey's list of PKK supporters
4.11.2007
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November
4, 2007
Erbil-Hewler, Kurdistan Region 'Iraq', --
The leader of a leftwing Kurdish party in Iraq has
denied reports that his name was featured in a list
provided by the Turkish authorities of those who
support the Turkey's Kurdish rebels of the Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK).
In an interview with AKI, Qader Aziz, the secretary
general of the Kurdistan Toilers Party (PZK) and a
representative of the regional government of Iraqi
Kurdistan, said a report in the Kurdish weekly
newspaper Hawlati claiming that his name was on the
list was incorrect.
"The newspaper should use caution when saying that
my name was on that list, which they received from
exclusive sources," said Aziz.
"Naming people in such as a way is dangerous."
Ankara accuses Iraq of sheltering separatist Kurdish
rebels from the PKK and allowing them to carry out
cross-border attacks against Turkey. Kurdish
authorities in Kurdistan region strongly reject the
claim. Turkey has sent a clear warning it is ready
to send its own army into Kurdistan 'northern Iraq'
to stop the rebel attacks.
The Kurdish representative said that he is "a member
of a delegation" that Turkey is seeking to meet to
explain the Kurdish position with respect to the
current crisis and to search for a peaceful
solution.
"How can Turkey welcome someone they want to meet
with accusations that the person supports
terrorism?" he asked.
"From the moment that Turkey, the European Union and
the United States included the PKK among terrorist
organisations, as they call them, anyone who
supports this party, exposes himself to danger,"
said Aziz.
"For this reason, the media must be careful when
making such dangerous accusations," he said, adding
that he has always been a "defender of the fight and
the rights of the Kurdish people in northern
Kurdistan (Turkey)".
Aziz said that he asked the editor of Hawlati to
explain the reason why his name was inserted in the
list of those wanted, in that "this is a clear
accusation that could put my life in jeopardy".
According to Kurdish and Iraqi sources, Turkey had
published a list of those wanted for terrorism,
including the names of some leaders of the PKK as
well as those in charge of the regional government
of Iraqi Kurdistan.
Iraqi Kurdish politician says, Turkey is using
Turkey's Kurdish separatist PKK rebel group as an
excuse to invade Kurdistan region 'Iraq' to prevent
the establishment of Kurdistan state in the Kurdish
autonomous region in 'northern Iraq', Turkey fears
this could fan separatism among its own large
Kurdish population in southeast Turkey.
Massoud Barzani, president of the Kurdistan regional
government that holds sway in northern Iraq,
regretted Ankara's refusal to hold direct talks on
the crisis over the Turkey's separatist Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK) rebels.
www.ekurd.net
Turkey has never, and still does not, recognize the
Kurdistan region government (KRG) and refuses to
meet with its representatives in any official
capacity. That reflects Ankara's fear that any
international respect shown to the autonomous Iraqi
Kurdistan region would only embolden Turkey's own
large Kurdish minority to seek similar home-rule
status.
www.ekurd.net
In Turkey, the term Kurdistan is a
politically-charged reference to Kurdish-majority
areas in southeastern Turkey and northern Iraq.
adnkronos com | Agencies
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