Dr
Dindar Zebari. Iraq's Kurdistan Government
Coordinator to the United Nations said "Kurdistan
region is part of the Federal State of Iraq. Any
military incursion into Kurdistan is but an
aggression against Iraq."
June
5, 2007
Erbil, Kurdistan region (Iraq), -- Iraq's
Kurdistan government's coordinator for the United
Nations affairs said on Monday any Turkish incursion
into the northern Iraqi region of Kurdistan is a
violation of Iraq's sovereignty and comes contrary
to the pledges made by Turkey during Sharm al-Sheikh
conference on Iraq's neighboring countries to
respect the sovereignty of the country.
In statements following a report by Reuters from
Ankara that
Turkey will deliver a report
to the United Nations this week
spelling out its concerns about militant Kurdish
separatists in Iraq and reaffirming its legal right
to take action against them, Dr Dindar Zebari said
"Kurdistan region is part of the Federal State of
Iraq. Any military incursion into Kurdistan is but
an aggression against Iraq." |
Dr Dindar Zebari. Iraq's Kurdistan Government
Coordinator to the United Nations |
|
Last week, Turkey moved 20 tanks near to the Iraqi
border after bomb attacks in southeastern Turkey.
Ankara blamed the PKK for the bombings.
The Kurdish official added "Iraq, a founder member
of the United Nations, enjoys sovereignty over its
territories and no neighborly state has the right to
intervene in Iraq's internal affairs."
While on Asian tour, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert
Gates on Sunday urged Turkey not to resort to force
to solve the crisis.
The Kurdish coordinator for U.N. affairs reminded
Ankara of the pledge it made during the Sharm
al-Sheikh conference on Iraq's neighboring countries
in early May to respect the sovereignty of Iraq
saying "the Turkish statements came contrary to the
pledges it made to respect Iraq's sovereignty and
integral territories."
On Saturday Iraqi prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, in
a joint news conference with Kurdistan President
Massoud Barzani, said "Our brothers in Kurdistan and
we, the Iraqi government, reject using Iraqi
territories to attack neighboring nations but the
Iraqi territories should also be respected and we
reject any threats directed towards us."
Iraq's Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani told
reporters "let the Turks say whatever they like to,
but we hope that Turkish threats will be merely
elections propaganda."
Barzani also said "we want to follow the way of
dialogue to solve problems as the threats style is
fully rejected."
VOI
** 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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