ISTANBUL - Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul urged Iraqis on Sunday not to use the sentencing to death of former leader Saddam Hussein as an excuse to dismantle their war-torn country.
Questioned by journalists, Gul said the verdict "should delight the Iraqi people, who have known a gread deal of unhappiness."
"The unity of Iraq is very important to us, and this unity must continue," he said on Turkey's NTV television.
Ankara regularly warns the significant Kurdish minority in neighbouring Iraq against seeking independence in case it encourages the secessionist leanings of Turkey's own Kurds.
11/05/2006 15:17 GMT