IRAQI MFA: TURKEY’S REQUEST IMPOSSIBLE TO FULFIL

PanARMENIAN.Net
29.10.2007 14:12 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Iraq’s foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari has warned
of serious consequences if Turkey launches a ground assault against
Kurdish rebels based in northern Iraq.

Hoshyar Zebari said the current crisis is "dead serious" and accused
Turkey of not seeking a peaceful solution.

He said Turkey had shown no interest in Iraqi proposals to calm
the situation.

Turkey has 100,000 troops near the border and is threatening to attack
the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Iraq.

The group frequently launches deadly attacks on Turkish troops,
and is accused by Ankara of using the Kurdish semi-autonomous area
of northern Iraq as a safe haven.

Mr Zebari said Turkey demanded that Iraq hand over senior members of
the PKK sheltering in Iraq, a request he said was impossible to fulfil.

"They are not under our control, in fact. They are up in the mountains,
they are armed," he said.

He said there was nothing to stop Turkey taking action against PKK
bases in the remote and rugged border mountains.

But the massing of an estimated 100,000 Turkish troops – with tanks
and other heavy weaponry – raised fears that the Turks were planning
something bigger and deeper into northern Iraq, Mr Zebari said.

Such a step would have "disastrous consequences" for stability in
both countries and in the wider region, he added.

"This would be a unilateral decision and that’s why people are
resisting that."

"That’s why the whole government of Iraq and the whole people of Iraq
are united really not to see their sovereignty, their territorial
integrity undermined by a friendly neighboring country," he said.

There are fears of a collision between Turkish troops and the Iraqi
Kurdish forces which control the area.

The Kurdish north of Iraq is a semi-autonomous area run by the Kurdish
Regional Government, led by Masoud Barzani.

Speaking to al-Jazeera TV, Mr Barzani insisted he would not hand over
anyone to Turkey, but added that he would also not allow the area to
be used as a base for a rebel group, BBC reports.