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Iraqi Prime Minister accepts Erdogan's invitation
to visit Ankara for talks on PKK
19.6.2007 |
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Iraqi
PM expected in Ankara for talks on PKK
June
19, 2007
BAGHDAD, -- Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki
has welcomed
an invitation by Turkey's
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to visit Ankara
and agreed on paying a visit to the Turkish capital
in a short time, diplomatic sources at the Foreign
Ministry headquarters said Monday.
Iraqi PM Maliki is expected to arrive in Ankara amid
rising worries on both sides over moves that can
further destabilize the region.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is expected to
arrive in Ankara for talks on the fight against the
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebels upon an
invitation by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
diplomatic sources said yesterday.
Turkey's Ambassador to Iraq Derya Kanbay handed
Erdogan's message to Maliki over the weekend.
Diplomatic sources said the visit may occur in the
first week of July rather than the end of June.
Turkey harshly criticized Iraq for not making any
effort at all to counter the PKK based in Iraqi
Kurdistan territory. On the other hand Prime
Minister Erdogan said there are still things to be
done through dialogue and continued to send a
positive message to Baghdad last week.
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Iraqi Prime minister Jawad Nuri al-Maliki |
Turkey harshly criticized Iraq for not making any
effort at all to counter the PKK based in Iraqi
Kurdistan territory. On the other hand Prime
Minister Erdogan said there are still things to be
done through dialogue and continued to send a
positive message to Baghdad last week.
Sources said Maliki assured Turkey that Iraq will do
whatever is necessary to stop terrorists from
attacking its neighbors, during a meeting with
Turkey's Ambassador Derya Kanbay.
"We are keen to prevent the PKK from carrying out
activities in Iraq," a statement from Maliki's
office quoted him as saying after his meeting with
Kanbay. Maliki also expressed his worries about the
PKK attacks claiming military and civilians' lives.
Erdogan said last week that he had invited al-Maliki.
In his letter, Erdogan assured Baghdad of Ankara's
support in achieving Iraqi stability and boosting
relations, the private CNN Turk news channel
reported.
According to the statement from Maliki's office,
Erdogan also welcomed the Iraqi prime minister's
proposal to form a high-level committee to develop
economic relations.
Meanwhile Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari,
speaking to CNN International on Sunday, said that
they are concerned about the buildup by Turkish
troops on the border.
Zebari said that any military incursion by Turkey
into Kurdistan (the north of
Iraq) would undermine Iraq's sole peaceful haven.
"It would create more imbalance and more
instability," Zebari said.
The Iraqi minister said that they are in
consultation with the Turkish government to ease the
tension and stated, “Because any confrontation would
not be in the interest of Iraq, Turkey or anybody
else."
More than 37,000 Turkish soldiers and Kurdish PKK
guerrillas have been killed since 1984 when the PKK
took up arms for self-rule in the country's mainly
Kurdish southeast of Turkey.
PKK, classified as a terror organisation by Turkey,
the United States and the European Union
Source: turkishdailynews com.tr | 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.
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)
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