ANKARA - Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITF) Chairman Abdullah Abdurrahman said on Monday that the main need of Iraq at the moment was tranquility and stability.
Abdurrahman met with Foreign Ministry Deputy Undersecretary Ali Tuygan. The meeting lasted about two hours.
Following the meeting, Abdurrahman told reporters that they needed help of friendly countries to ensure tranquility and stability.
Abdurrahman said that they held very fruitful meetings and he explained problems of Iraqi Turkmens.
Replying to a question on the decision of Turkish government not to send soldiers to Iraq, Abdurrahman said that ITC thought that the most important issue was restoring peace, stability and tranquility in Iraq.
Pointing out that peace, stability and tranquility in Iraq could be restored with support of democratic countries, Abdurrahman said that Turkish soldiers ensured tranquility in Afghanistan, Somalia and Bosnia-Herzegovina in the shortest time and everybody knew that.
Abdurrahman stated that they expressed their views on that issue during their meeting and said that the main need of Iraq at the moment was tranquility and stability.
They needed help of friendly countries to ensure peace, tranquility and stability, Abdurrahman pointed out.
Replying to a question, Abdurrahman said that the United States and Iraqi Interim Governing Council could not ensure stability in Iraq.
When he was recalled about the statement of Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party (IKDP) leader Massoud Barzani that ''Kirkuk was a Kurdish city'', Abdurrahman said that everybody knew that Kirkuk was a city where the Turkmens were in majority.
Abdurrahman recalled that according to census held in 1947 and 1957, majority of population in Kirkuk was comprised of Turkmens.
Names of districts, villages and some important buildings in the region showed that it was a Turkmen city, Abdurrahman said.
Asked about visit of Iraqi Interim Governing Council's Current President and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leader Jalal Talabani's visit to Ankara, Abdurrahman said that he was also a guest of Turkish Republic.
When asked about their expectations from the Interim Governing Council, Abdurrahman said that their participation in that delegation was important to voice problems of Turkmens.
Replying to a question about security concern of Turkmens in Iraq, Abdurrahman said that they took care of Turkmens who were wanted to be affected by oppressive groups and they were exerting every kind of political efforts within borders of Iraq.
The delegation headed by Abdurrahman is comprised of Saadettin Ergec, head of Turkmen Parliament, Mehmet Izzet, ITF official responsible for international relations, and Ibrahim Ismail Aga and Fikret Asker, members of Turkmen Parliament.
(BRC-AY) 17.11.2003