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Kurds in northern Iraq warned on Friday that they will defend themselves against any Turkey
BAGHDAD - Kurds in northern Iraq warned on Friday that they will defend themselves against any Turkish incursion, and Iraqi leaders called on Ankara to engage in dialogue instead of threats.Massoud Barzani, the president of the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq, urged Turkey to hold direct talks with his regional government but vowed to fight "any aggression." Turkish officials, who have long battled Kurdish separatist sentiment at home, have balked at such talks with the Kurdish regional government in Iraq. The strong comments from Iraq's senior Kurdish statesman came two days after the Turkish parliament voted to authorize a cross-border incursion to root out the rebels from their bases in the mountains on the frontier. There has been no sign of imminent military strikes, and the United States and the Iraqi government have urged restraint. "The experiences of the past years have shown that this issue cannot be solved through the course of war," Barzani said. "But at the same time we declare to all: if the region or the Kurdistan experiment faces any aggression under any pretext whatsoever, than we are fully prepared to defend our democratic experience and the dignity of our people and the sanctity of our homeland." He said Iraqi Kurds were not responsible for the fighting between Turkey and the rebels from the Kurdistan Workers' Party, known by its Kurdish acronym PKK. "Kurdistan is not responsible for the war between Turkey and the PKK," he said. "And we have not supported the war or the violence and bloodletting or been dragged into this war." Posted by: JohnQC 2007-10-19 |
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