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Massoud Barzani: Iraqi Kurds will
retaliate if Iran, Turkey attacks
5.2.2007
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February
5, 2007
Massoud Barzani, president of the autonomous
Kurdistan region in (northern Iraq), said the
Kurdish-controlled north would retaliate should
neighboring Turkey or Iran launch attacks, reported
Pukmedia, the official Web site of the Patriotic
Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
“We would like to be
friends with the two countries, but if they attack
us we will respond,” he said.
Increase of US Forces Positive Step, Barzani Says
President Massoud Barzani considered increasing of
the US forces in Iraq as a positive step showing
that this increasing would calm the security
situations in the state in the case of cooperation
with the Iraqi and American forces. |
Massoud Barzani, President of Kurdistan Region
(Iraq) |
He said in a press statement that the Iraqi forces
endure proving the responsibility of its cooperation
with the US forces besides its ability of offering
security and legality or it would be as a
catastrophe on the state.
He ascribed the minority violence to the activities
carried out by Qaeda and Ba'ath besides the
extremists and armed groups in addition to the
interference of the neighbor states in the Iraqi
issue.
Referring to the dispute between the US and Iran
over the Iran’s nuclear issue, President Barzani
stated that the Kurds would not back either country.
Questioned about Iran’s meddling in Iraqi internal
affairs, President Barzani replied that all the
countries in the region are involved in interfering
with the situation in Iraq.
He added that Iraq has become a battlefield for
neighboring countries who want to take advantage of
the unstable situation in the country. President
Barzani claimed that some countries are interfering
in Iraq’s internal affairs because they fear that if
democracy succeeds in Iraq, this will upset the
status quo in their own countries. What they want to
see is a deterioration in the US situation in Iraq.
The President observed that Turkey and Iran, who
both have large Kurdish minorities inside their own
borders, are very sensitive to any changes to the
situation in the Kurdistan Region.
He hoped that neither would become a threat to the
Kurds as the Kurdistan Region has always enjoyed
good relations with both countries. Nevertheless,
Kurdistan would respond if it felt threatened by
Turkey or Iran. Commenting on the Kirkuk issue,
President Barzani stated that Kirkuk is a Kurdish
city and that the aim should be to implement Article
140 of Iraq’s permanent constitution.
He added that the Kurdistan Region wants to
transform Kirkuk into an example of a society in
which different factions and ethnic groups are able
to coexist. When asked about Kurdistan’s dream of
independence, President Barzani stated that the
Kurds do not regard an Independent Kurdistan as a
dream. They see it as their legal right
turkishdailynews com.tr | alsabaah com | PNA
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