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President of Kurdistan says ready for dialogue with
Turkey
26.2.2007 |
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February 26, 2007
ANKARA, -- The president of Iraqi Kurdistan
autonomous region called on Turkey for face-to-face
talks to end high-running tensions over Turkish Kurd
rebels based in his autonomous Kurdistan region in
northern Iraq, in a television interview broadcast
on Monday.
His appeal coincides with remarks by Turkish
officials that they are ready to meet Iraqi Kurdish
leaders to resolve the problem, contrary to earlier
threats by Ankara of a cross-border military
operation to crack down on the rebels.
"Dialogue is the best way to resolve problems and
misunderstandings," Massoud Barzani told Turkey's
NTV news channel. "We must talk face to face to
understand each other's position. This will be
followed by (discussions on) what should be done and
necessary actions.
"We are extending to Turkey a hand of friendship. We
will be pleased if Turkey responds in kind," he
said.
Ankara has grown increasingly impatient with US and
Iraqi reluctance to move against the Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK).
Members of the armed separatist group, which is
listed as a terrorist organisation by both Ankara
and Washington, among others, have taken refuge in
Kurdistan (northern Iraq).
Earlier this month, army chief General Yasar
Buyukanit accused the Iraqi Kurds who run the region
of "fully" supporting the PKK and providing it with
explosives for bomb attacks in Turkey.
He also objected to any move by Ankara to seek
dialogue with them, but both Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul
said their government would be open to talks.
On Friday, Turkey's National Security Council, which
groups the country's top civilian and military
leaders, also put the emphasis on "diplomatic
efforts" to resolve the row. |
Flash Video - ROJ TV
Massoud Barzani, the President of the Regional
Government of Kurdistan |
Barzani rejected accusations that Iraqi Kurds
supported the PKK and said he was "pleased" that
Ankara was considering dialogue.
"Threats are not a constructive way to move
forward," he said.
The PKK's campaign for Kurdish self-rule in
southeast Turkey has resulted in more than 37,000
deaths since 1984.
Ankara and the Iraqi Kurds are also at loggerheads
over the future of the ethnically volatile, oil-rich
city of Kirkuk. The Kurds want to incorporate it
into their autonomous region although the city is
also home to Arabs and Turkish-backed Turkmens.
Ankara is worried that Kurdish control of Kirkuk's
oil reserves will boost what it sees as Kurdish
aspirations to break away from Baghdad.
An independent Kurdish state, it fears, could fuel
the PKK's insurgency in adjoining southeast Turkey.
AFP
** 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" Southeast
Turkey.
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.
Turkey is home to some 20 million ethnic Kurds, some
of whom openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK for a
Kurdish homeland in the country's mainly Kurdish
southeast of Turkey
The Kurdish flag flown officially 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
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