Saturday, June 25, 2005
Iraqi president against Kurdish independence
Agence France-Presse
Ankara, June 25, 2005
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani dismissed as "unrealistic" aspirations by Iraqi Kurds for independence in their northern enclave and urged Turkey to set aside its doubts and give backing to Kurds in the war-torn country.
"I never thought or championed that Kurdistan should break off from Iraq ... because these dreams are unrealistic and impracticable," Talabani, the leader of a Kurdish faction who has long been at odds with Turkey, said in an interview with the Turkish Aksam daily.
"Let us say a Kurdish state were set up. How could a state opposed by Syria, Turkey, Iran and Iraq live? These countries could suffocate the Kurdish state even if they did not attack it," he added.
Turkey has long shared fears with Iran and Syria that Iraqi Kurds are plotting to break away from Baghdad, setting a destabilizing model for Kurdish communities in these three countries and triggering fresh regional turmoil.
© HT Media Ltd. 2005.