TURKEY: Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan warns Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani over comments he made about Ankara's policy towards northern Iraq

Record ID: 217365

  • Title: TURKEY: Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan warns Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani over comments he made about Ankara's policy towards northern Iraq
  • Date: 9th April 2007
  • Summary: (W3) ANKARA, TURKEY, (APRIL 09, 2007), (REUTERS) TURKISH PRIME MINISTER TAYYIP ERDOGAN ARRIVING AT CEREMONY HALL VARIOUS OF PEOPLE AT CEREMONY
  • Embargoed: 24th April 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: International Relations,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAAAQVVEX7HXQFC5TID6443SL62
  • Story Text: Turkey's prime minister warns Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani over comments he made about Ankara's policy towards northern Iraq, saying Barzani would "be crushed by his words".
    Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan issued a warning on Monday (April 9) to Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani over comments he made about Turkey's policy towards northern Iraq.
    Barzani said in a television interview at the weekend that, if Turkey intervened in mainly Kurdish northern Iraq as it had often threatened, Iraqi Kurds would intervene in cities in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast.
    Erdogan told journalists that the Kurdish leader had exceeded his limits.
    "My advice to them is not to publish any comment that they cannot achieve," he said.
    "They really need to clarify their position, otherwise they will be crushed by those words. And northern Iraq, which shares the same border with Turkey, is making big mistakes by taking those steps. And the price of this for them is very heavy."
    Ankara is concerned about what it sees as moves by Iraqi Kurds to build an independent state in northern Iraq, fearing this in turn could re-iginite separatism among the Kurdish population in southeast Turkey.
    Three guerrillas from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), four Marxist rebels and a soldier were killed on Monday in fighting in Turkey's southeast, security officials said.
    Ten soldiers and seven rebels were killed at the weekend after thousands of Turkish troops, backed by helicopters, launched operations against the PKK.
    Turkey fears the Iraqi Kurds will wrest control of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk after a referendum on its status due by the end of 2007, turning it into their new capital.
    In his interview, Barzani, who is president of the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq, said he would not allow Turkey to intervene in Kirkuk and stressed the city's Kurdish identity.
    Barzani told Al-Arabiya television that Turkey should not intervene in the Kirkuk issue, threatening retaliation in Diyarbakir and other cities in Turkey. Diyarbakir is the largest city of Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast region.
    Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul complained to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Saturday over Barzani's comments.
    Turkish State Minister Kursad Tuzmen said on Monday Ankara could take unspecified measures "when the time comes". Some opposition politicians have called for the temporary closure of the Habur border gate between Turkey and Iraq as a protest.
    In the past, both government ministers and army generals have also affirmed Turkey's right under international law to send troops into Iraq if necessary "in self-defence".
    Ankara has urged Baghdad and U.S. forces based in Iraq to crack down on Kurdish guerrillas from Turkey hiding in the mountains of northern Iraq, but they have failed to act.
    Turkey blames the rebels for the deaths of more than 30,000 people since they began their armed campaign for an ethnic homeland in southeast Turkey in 1984.
    On Wednesday (April 4) security forces clashed with a convoy of people trying to reach the village of jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan for celebrations marking his birthday.
    Ocalan, who hails from the village of Omerli in south eastern Turkey, is serving a life sentence for leading a separatist militant movement, the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK).
    Reinforced by helicopters, authorities set up road blocks at the entrance to the town, allowing only one vehicle carrying 10 people to enter the town for the celebration.
    When events turned violent, the crowd was dispersed by security forces using smoke grenades and batons.
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