|
Turkish delegation meets Iraqi president,
Kurdistan PM
2.5.2008
By ekurd.net staff
|
|
|
|
May 2, 2008
BAGHDAD, -- The chief foreign policy adviser
to Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan met the
Prime Minister of Iraq's Kurdish autonomous
Kurdistan region on Thursday, the first direct high
level contact between Turkey and the Iraqi Kurdistan
region.
The Turkish envoy, Ahmet Davutoglu, met Iraq's
President Jalal Talabani before separately meeting
Nechirvan Barzani, Iraqi officials said.
"This is the first time a meeting has taken place
between the Turkish government and the Kurdistan
government," Falah Mustafa,www.ekurd.net
foreign policy chief in
the Kurdish regional government, told Reuters.
"This is a positive and correct step. We discussed
all of the political and economic issues and we
agreed to hold further meetings in the future." |
  
Iraqi President : Jalal Talabani, a Kurd (L). Nechirvan Barzani
(C), Prime
Minister of
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), Professor Ahmet
Davutoglu (R) is a Turkish ambassador and the chief
advisor to the Prime Minister of Republic of Turkey
on foreign policy. |
Asked if they discussed the presence of Turkey's
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) Kurdish separatist
guerrillas in Kurdistan region of "northern Iraq",
Mustafa said: "Of course we discussed it, but only
in general terms, not in specifics. And we agreed to
find a peaceful solution."
Turkey has had fraught relations with Iraq's
Kurdistan region because it says PKK Kurdish
separatist rebels shelter there.
During the meeting, Talabani informed the Turkish
delegation that he is pleased to see the Turks
having a meeting with a delegation from Kurdistan
government.
"It is important for Turkey to strengthen ties with
not only the central Iraqi government but also the
Kurdish government," Talabani said.
A statement issued by the Iraqi Presidency said that
the Turkish delegation and the Kurdistani government
handled issues that caused tension in relations
recently.
The two delegations made a list of methods to be
used in order to eradicate barriers to the
development of relations, the statement told.
According to the statement, the delegations stressed
the need to resolve matters between Turkey and the
Kurdistan region, to hold meetings on issues such as
politics, economics, social and security matters and
to hold consultations.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Thursday
said the security gains of this year (2008) have
pushed Turkey and Iraq to boost ties and to broaden
the scope of cooperation between the two countries,
a PM office statement said.
Meanwhile Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan met Iraqi Vice-President Tariq al-Hashimi in
Ankara on Thursday.
The bilateral relations between the two countries
under recent developments in Iraq topped the agenda
of the meeting. Erdogan and al-Hashimi also
discussed their cooperation in the fight against
terrorism and Turkey's contributions to regional
stability.
Al-Hashimi also met Turkish President Abdullah Gul
at Cankaya Presidential Palace earlier in the day.
The Iraqi Vice-President left for Istanbul on
Thursday after completing talks in the Turkish
capital of Ankara.
Turkey rejects direct talks with the official Iraqi
Kurdistan government on the crisis over the Turkey's
separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebels.
Officially, Turkey does not recognise the regional
government of Kurdistan led by president Massoud
Barzani.
Turkey has never, and still does not, recognize the
Kurdistan region government (KRG) and refuses to
meet with its representatives in any official
capacity.
That reflects Ankara's fear that any
international respect shown to the autonomous Iraqi
Kurdistan region would only embolden Turkey's own
large Kurdish minority to seek similar home-rule
status.
Over 39,000 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. A large Turkey's
Kurdish community openly sympathise with the Kurdish
PKK rebels.
The PKK demanded Turkey's recognition of the Kurds'
identity in its constitution and of their language
as a native language along with Turkish in the
country's Kurdish areas, the party also demanded
an end to ethnic discrimination in Turkish laws and
constitution against Kurds, ranting them full
political freedoms.
The PKK is considered a 'terrorist' organization by
Ankara, U.S., the PKK continues to be on the
blacklist list in EU despite court ruling which
overturned a decision
to place the Kurdish rebel
group PKK and its political wing on
the European Union's terror list.
Turkey refuses to recognize its Kurdish population
as a distinct minority. It has allowed some cultural
rights such as limited broadcasts in the Kurdish
language and private Kurdish language courses with
the prodding of the European Union,www.ekurd.net
but Kurdish politicians
say the measures fall short of their expectations.
Information for this report was provided by, Reuters
| turkishpress com | AFP | VOI | hurriyet com.tr |
Agencies
** 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.
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 