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Gul urges Rice over Kurdistan's president statement
over Turkey
9.4.2007 |
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April
9, 2007
ANKARA, -- Infuriated by the warning made by
Massoud Barzani, president of the autonomous
Kurdistan region, Turkey immediately warned the
United States on Saturday that “Barzani's statements
are extremely disturbing” and that he should be
urged not to repeat his threats against Turkey,
during a telephone conversation between Foreign
Minister Abdullah Gül and his American counterpart
Condoleezza Rice.
Barzani on Saturday,
in an interview with Al-Arabiyah TV, warned Turkey
is not to interfere in the Kurds's bid to attach the
oil-rich Kurdish city of Kirkuk to the Kurdistan
autonomous zone and said that, “If it does, we will
interfere in Diyarbakir's issues and other cities in
Turkey.” Arguing that the independence and statehood
for Kurds, who live in Turkey, Iran, Syria and Iraq
is a legitimate and legal right, Barzani stressed
his point by saying “There are 30 million Kurds in
Turkey and we don't interfere there. If they (the
Turks) interfere in Kirkuk over just a few thousand
Turkmen then we will take action regarding the 30
million Kurds in Turkey." |
Turkey Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül |
Massoud Barzani, the President of the autonomous Regional
Government of Kurdistan 'Iraq' |
Barzani, president of the 15-year-old Kurdistan
autonomous region in northern Iraq, issued the
warning after last week's endorsement by the Iraqi
government of a decision to relocate and compensate
thousands of Arabs who moved to the city as part of
Saddam Hussein's campaign to push out the Kurds.
"We will not let the Turks intervene in Kirkuk,"
Barzani said in an interview with Al-Arabiyah
television. "Kirkuk is an Iraqi city with a Kurdish
identity, historically and geographically. All the
facts prove that Kirkuk is part of Kurdistan."
Turkey is not allowed to intervene in the Kirkuk
issue and
if it does,
we will interfere in Diyarbakir's issues and other
cities in Turkey," Barzani said. Diyarbakir is the
largest city in Turkey's Kurdish-dominated
southeast."
The Turkish Daily News has learned that Gül phoned
Rice late Saturday and expressed his government's
anger concerning Barzani's statements and Baghdad's
decision to hold the Iraqi meeting in Egypt's Sharm
Al Sheikh, instead of Istanbul. Turkey has
long-waited to host a ministerial meeting with its
Iraqi neighbors alng with the G-5 (U.N. Security
Council permanent members) and G-8 (most
industrialized nations), but the Iraqi government
preferred Egypt's Red Sea resort for May 3-4
gathering.
Turkish FM Gul threat Barzani,
Gül: "Barzani to see how we respond soon"
Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdullah Gül has
evaluated statements of Iraqi Kurdistan region
president Masosud Barzani and said: "Barzani will
soon see how we respond to statements like this."
Minister of Foreign Affairs Gül has attended the
ceremony for the 162nd anniversary of the Turkish
Police Department where he evaluated Mesud Barzani's
statements and assumed a threatening attitude.
"Barzani will soon see how we respond to his
statements," Gül said.
Rice wanted re-fresh Turkey's hopes
During the phone conversation, Rice wanted to revive
Turkey's hopes for an international conference on
Iraq saying, “We will do our best to ensure the next
meeting after Cairo will take place in Istanbul.” FM
Gül, answering the reporters on Saturday in Bursa,
said, “There are some difficulties about the meeting
due to our presidential elections process and the
delay of some other meetings concerning Iraq.”
turkishdailynews.com.tr | sabah com.tr | AP
**
The former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein forced
about 250,000 Kurdish residents to give up their
homes to Arabs in the 1970s, to "Arabize" the city
and the region's oil industry.
Kirkuk city is a Kurdistani city and it lies just
south border of the Kurdistan autonomous region and
it is not under the full control of Kurdistan
Regional Government administration, its population
is a mix of majority Kurds and minority of Arabs,
Turkmen.
The Iraqi Constitution mandates that a referendum on
control of Kirkuk must be held by the end of this
year to decide whether the oil-rich Kurdish province
should be annexed to the safe semiautonomous
Kurdistan region in Iraq's north.
** 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 more than 20 million live in
Turkey.
Turkey is home to more than 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.
Before August 2002, the Turkish government placed
severe restrictions on the use of Kurdish language,
prohibiting the language in education and broadcast
media.
The Kurdish alphabet is still not recognized
in Turkey, and use of the Kurdish letters X, W, Q
which do not exist in the Turkish
alphabet has led to judicial persecution in 2000 and
2003
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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