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Iraqi FM warns Turkey off invading Iraqi
Kurdistan
18.6.2007
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June
18, 2007
WASHINGTON, -- Any military incursion by
Turkey into Kurdistan region (north of Iraq) would
undermine Iraq's sole haven of stability and is in
no one's interest, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar
Zebari warned Sunday.
Zebari, himself a Kurd, echoed Iraqi Prime Minister
Nuri al-Maliki in arguing that the Baghdad
government wanted to halt the operations of
anti-Turkey Kurdish rebels operating out of northern
Iraq.
But speaking on CNN from New York, he added: "As for
the Turkish troops' buildup, we are concerned,
definitely."
Any cross-border incursion by Turkey would
"destabilize the only part of Iraq" that has largely
escaped the insurgency gripping the rest of the
country, Zebari said.
"It would create more imbalance and more
instability," he said. |
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari |
"And we're in consultation with the Turkish
government to ease this tension. Because any
confrontation would not be in the interest of Iraq,
Turkey or anybody else."
Turkey has repeatedly demanded tougher action from
Iraq and the United States against the Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK), and refuses to rule out acting
unilaterally if its demands are not heeded.
During a meeting with Turkey's envoy to Baghdad,
Derya Kanbay, Maliki said Sunday that Iraq "was
concerned about the operations of PKK that result in
the killing of innocent victims."
"We are keen to prevent PKK from carrying out
activities in Iraq," a statement from Maliki's
office quoted him as saying.
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.
Kurds are not recognized as an official minority in
Turkey and are denied rights granted to other
minority groups. Under EU pressure, Turkey recently
granted Kurds limited rights for broadcasts and
education in the Kurdish language, but critics say
the measures do not go far enough.
Others estimate over 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 over 25 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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