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Erdogan refuses to respond via media to Barzani
speech in Brussels
10.5.2007 |
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May 10, 2007
Despite Iraqi Kurdistan region president Massoud
Barzani's latest controversial remarks delivered in
the heart of the European Union, Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan refused on Wednesday to respond
via the media, saying that the Turkish government
should not be put in a position that forces the
recognition of Barzani's Kurdistan administration as
Ankara's counterpart.
Speaking to a committee of the European Parliament
in Brussels,
Barzani said on Tuesday that the Iraqi Kurds
would be willing to support a political solution to
the longstanding conflict between Turkey and the
outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), while he
accused Turkey of using the PKK issue as a pretext.
He said Ankara was best placed to resolve the
problem itself.
Turkey refuses to talk to the PKK, which is listed
as a terrorist organization not only by Turkey, but
also by the EU and the US. "This is a political
issue of course. This issue cannot be resolved
militarily ...
If they continue to dwell on the idea of a military
solution, that will not be successful and we will
not be ready to take part in any military solution,"
Barzani also said.
When reminded of Barzani's remarks, Erdogan refused
to engage in a dispute with Barzani through the
media. "I should not speak with them through media
now.
We have already told them what we wanted to say.
[Barzani] should not be considered in the position
of a counterpart for us at this moment," Erdoğan
briefly said.
Questioned by European lawmakers in Brussels,
Barzani also denied on Tuesday that he warned to
intervene in Turkey over the Kurdish issue, while
warning Ankara he would not tolerate any threats
from them. Threats are no longer a "valid" approach,
he said. "We are not threatening anybody, but we
will not accept threats from anybody either." |
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
President of the Autonomous Kurdish Government in
Iraq, Massoud Barzani speaks with photographers
prior to talks at the EU Council building in
Brussels, Tuesday May 8, 2007 AP |
todayszaman com
** 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.
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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