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Turkey says it is too early to open a
diplomatic office in Iraqi Kurdistan
25.10.2008
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Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman says "There is no
plan for a visit to Erbil or for a visit from
northern Iraq"
October
25, 2008
ANKARA,
Turkey, — The Foreign Ministry has dismissed rumors
that Turkey is planning to open a diplomatic office
in Erbil, the Iraqi Kurdistan's capital "northern
Iraq" saying it is too early to consider such a
step.
"We don't have such a plan. It is too early for
something like that … it's off the table right now,"
said Foreign Ministry spokesman Burak Özügergin at a
weekly press conference Friday when asked to comment
on speculation in the media about the plans.
Turkey and the Iraqi Kurds have been witnessing a
thaw in their relations after years of tension over
Turkish accusations that the Kurdistan
administration was supporting the outlawed Turkey's
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
Kurdish officials have said a Turkish delegation is
due to visit Erbil soon for talks with Kurdish
authorities on cooperation against the PKK,www.ekurd.net
but Özügergin said there
was no plan for such a visit at this stage, either.
"There is no plan for a visit to Erbil or for a
visit from northern Iraq," Özügergin said. "But we
keep saying that we are in touch with all Iraqi
groups, and there have been visits and there will be
visits in the future."
Turkey's special envoy to Iraq,www.ekurd.net
Murat Özçelik, met with
Iraqi Kurdistan region president Massoud Barzani
last week in Baghdad, Turkey's first public contact
with Barzani since the US-led liberation-war on Iraq
in 2003. Ankara says there will be more contacts
with the Kurds depending on the level of cooperation
they are willing to offer in Turkey's efforts to
fight the PKK.
Iraqi Kurds say they are not happy about the PKK
launching attacks from their territory, but they are
also unwilling to back military action against the
rebel group, calling for a peaceful solution
instead.
Having refused to talk to the Iraqi Kurds for years,
Ankara has no consulate in Erbil, the capital of the
autonomous Kurdistan region, unlike many countries
that have opened missions in the city in the past
few years. Turkey plans to open a consulate in the
southern Iraqi city of Basra,www.ekurd.net
but security issues pose
an obstacle.
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.
Özügergin said Turkey was still considering an Iraqi
proposal to create a mechanism for three-way
consultations between Turkey, the United States and
Iraq. The proposal came from Iraqi President Jalal
Talabani, an ethnic Kurd, during a telephone
conversation with his Turkish counterpart, Abdullah
Gül, following a deadly PKK attack on a military
outpost near the Iraqi border on Oct. 3 that killed
17 Turkish soldiers.
Özügergin explained that talks were under way both
with the Iraqis and the Americans on bilateral
platforms on ways to facilitate cooperation. "We
will take steps accordingly if we come to the
conclusion that it will produce results," he said.
One issue being debated is whether the Iraqi Kurds,
who run Iraqi Kurdistan region, will also be a part
of the proposed mechanism.
Unlike past years, Ankara now has no objection to
the inclusion of the Kurds but says the decision is
up to the Baghdad government. "It is up to the Iraqi
government to decide who will be in the mechanism
from the Iraqi side," Özügergin noted.
Over 39,000 Turkish soldiers and Kurdish PKK
guerrillas have been killed since 1984 when the
Turkey's Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)
took up arms for self-rule in the country's mainly
Kurdish southeast of Turkey (Turkey-Kurdistan). 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, but Kurdish politicians
say the measures fall short of their expectations.
Copyright, respective author or news agency,
todayszaman com | 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.
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 25 million ethnic Kurds, a large
Turkey's Kurdish community 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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