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Iraqi Kurdistan PM Nechirvan Barzani plays
down dispute with Turkey
8.8.2007
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August 8, 2007
Erbil-Hewler, Kurdistan region (Iraq), -- The
prime minister of Iraq's Kurdistan autonomous region
played down differences with Ankara on Tuesday, as
top-level Iraqi-Turkish talks opened on the
perceived threat of Kurdish separatism.
Nechirvan Barzani told a news conference in the
regional capital Erbil that Turkish troops were
positioned in the Iraqi- Kurdish enclave with local
consent and lent his support to Iraqi Prime Minister
Nuri al-Maliki's visit to
Ankara.
"There is a Turkish presence in the province and
this is in coordination with the provincial
government," he said.
Turkey has long maintained around 1,500 troops
several kilometres (miles) inside Iraqi territory to
prevent the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which it
considers a terrorist group, from crossing its
sprawling mountainous border. |
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister
Nechirvan Barzani. |
But Iraqi officials have expressed concern over a
larger troop buildup inside southern Turkey, amid
warnings from Turkish commanders that they are ready
to launch raids if PKK infiltration continues.
"The military buildup is not a problem between the
regional government and Turkey, but rather between
Turkey and Iraq, which is a sovereign state,"
Barzani added.
He backed Maliki's visit and urged all Kurdish
political leaders to hold talks with Turkey in order
to end the dispute over the PKK.
"We hope the visit will be a start to curing all
problems. We are ready to hold talks with Turkey at
any time. We stretch out our hand towards friendship
and good neighbourly relations," Barzani said.
Turkey has threatened military action in Kurdistan
(northern Iraq) against the PKK if Iraq and the
United States fail to clamp down on the rebels.
Ankara charges that the PKK -- whose bloody campaign
for self-rule in the mainly Kurdish southeast Turkey
since 1984 has claimed more than 37,000 lives --
enjoys free movement in the mountains of Iraqi
Kurdistan (northern Iraq).
Turkey has accused the forces of Massoud Barzani,
the president of northern Iraq's Kurdistan
autonomous region, of providing the PKK with
weapons, possibly including ammunition received from
the United States.
Officially, Turkey does not recognise the regional
government of Kurdistan led by president Massoud
Barzani.
AFP
* Ankara is anxious to prevent the emergence of a
Kurdish state in Kurdistan region (northern Iraq),
fearing this could fan separatism among its own
large Kurdish population in southeast Turkey. Kurds
constitute about 20 percent of Turkey's more than 70
million people.
Kurdish politician says, Turkey is using a Kurdish
separatist PKK rebel group as an excuse to invade
Kurdistan region (Iraq) to prevent the establishment
of Kurdistan state in the Kurdish autonomous region
in (northern Iraq).
**
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.
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 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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