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Iraq Parliament speaker backs president
Barzani over Kirkuk and Turkey
14.4.2007 |
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April
14, 2007
Turkish Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaşar
Büyükanit's remarks in which he sought government
approval to launch a military operation into
Kurdistan (northern Iraq) to fight members of the
outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) drew heavy
criticism from Iraqi officials Friday.
While Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani
threatened Ankara that "the hand that reaches out to
interfere in our internal affairs will be cut," the
speaker of regional Kurdistan parliament Adnan
al-Mufti described Büyükanits's call for a military
operation as a dangerous escalation.
Al-Mashhadani, speaking during an extraordinary
Friday session in the parliament dining hall, also
issued strong backing for Kurdistan's president
Massoud Barzani, who has been at the center of the
angry debate over Turkish challenges on the future
status of Kirkuk. Al-Mashhadani issued the
rhetorical threat one day after Büyükanit's speech,
which was a signal of growing frustration over a
lack of action against the terrorists by Iraqi and
US forces.
Al-Mashhadani fired back that "the hand that will be
extended to interfere in our internal affairs will
be cut, if not today then tomorrow. If neighboring,
friendly and brotherly countries have good
intentions they should help us."
Al-Mashhadani also lend support to Iraqi Kurdistan
region president Massoud Barzani, who warneded to
stir unrest in Turkey's Kurdish Southeast if Ankara
intervenes in the process of determining the status
of Iraq's disputed Kurdish city of Kirkuk by saying
that Barzani's remarks were "moderate and logical."
It was not clear if he was endorsing Barazani's
warning. Al-Mashhadani said "we support the leader
of the Kurdistan region....and we reject
interference in our
internal Iraqi affairs from any side. We condemn
this interference and we will repulse it."
Meanwhile, the speaker of regional Kurdish
parliament Adnan al-Mufti said, "The threats by [Büyükanit]
are a dangerous escalation that we take very
seriously. We in Kurdistan region's parliament will
relay our rejection of these threats to different
parties in Baghdad, the US and other countries,"
Mufti said.
"All kinds of attacks against the Federal Kurdistan
Region is in the general sense a war declared
against Iraq," Kemal Kerkuki, deputy speaker of
Kurdistan regional parliament in Kurdistan (northern
Iraq), was quoted as saying on Friday by the
Peyamner news agency (PNA) -- an Erbil- based online
news agency. "Attacking the Federal Kurdistan Region
is not an easy job, and I believe that the
possibility of such a thing taking place is remote.
His statements are related to domestic issues. We
don't have anything to do with their internal
affairs," Kerkuki was quoted as saying on the Web
site of the PNA.
Meanwhile, Nechirvan Barzani, the prime minister of
the Kurdistan region (northern Iraq) led by
president Massoud Barzani, assumed a more moderate
tone as he said in an interview with the BBC Turkish
service that Iraqi Kurds wanted to sort out their
issues with Turkey through dialogue.
"We're extending our hand in friendship to Turkey.
We can solve everything through dialogue, including
the PKK, Kirkuk, trade, investments and oil. We are
open to dialogue," Nechirvan Barzani was quoted as
saying by the BBC Turkish service. "Turkey is our
gate to Europe. We have much more in common than the
differences we have. We've never gotten involved in
Turkey's internal affairs, and we have no intention
of getting involved in the future," he added.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said
that his government alone set Iraq's foreign policy
and it was based on maintaining good ties with its
neighbors.
zaman com
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