Kitêbxaneya Kurdî

Press about the Kurds

September 2, 2002

Iraqi Kurdish leader assures Turkey that Kurdish groups do not seek independent state

ANKARA, Turkey - An Iraqi Kurdish leader sought Monday to soothe Turkey's concerns that his faction might try and set up an independent state if the United States launches military strikes against Baghdad.

Turkey, a key U.S. ally, hosts U.S. warplanes and is extremely concerned that Iraqi Kurds_ virtually independent of Baghdad's control_ would use possible U.S. military strikes to seek full independence. Turkey fears that such a move would inspire autonomy-seeking Turkish Kurds, who fought the Turkish army for 15 years.

Jalal Talabani, leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, one of two Kurdish factions controlling northern Iraq, said he supported a united, federal and democratic Iraq.

Talabani is on his way back to northern Iraq from Washington, where he consulted with top U.S. defense officials and Vice President Dick Cheney on Iraq's future.

"We are for defending and protecting the territorial integrity of Iraq," Talabani told reporters after his meeting with Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Ugur Ziyal. "There is no serious force or personality or group trying to have an independent Kurdish state."

Turkish and Iraqi Kurdish support are both considered key if there is a U.S. attack. Turkey was a staging point for attacks against Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War and still hosts U.S. and British planes patrolling a no-fly zone to protect Iraqi Kurds.

Relations between Turkey and another Kurdish faction have been tense in recent weeks, mainly because of fears that the groups seek independence from Iraq.

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© Associated Press