ANKARA - Patriotic Union of Iraqi Kurdistan (PUK) leader Jalal Talabani said on Tuesday that a war against Turkey was a war against Kurdish community.
Talabani, who came to Ankara overnight, met with Turkish Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul.
Replying to questions of journalists following the meeting that last for nearly two hours, Talabani said that he had a very fruitful meeting with Gul. He noted that Gul and he discussed current situation in Iraq, the future of the country and rights of Turkmens in the meeting.
Talabani stated that they had consensus that Turkmens should have full rights in Iraq, stressing that Gul and he assessed ways of further improvement of relations between Turkey and Iraq and Iraqi people of Kurdish origin in the meeting.
Replying to a question on actions of terrorist organization PKK/KONGRA-GEL, Talabani said that he told Gul that a war against Turkey was also a war against Kurdish community.
Stating that they thought that all rational and reasonable Turkish citizens of Kurdish origin were against a war, he noted that no one supported a war and killings. He added that everyone was in favor of peace and stability. Talabani said that there was a good democratization process in Turkey and it should be supported.
Stressing that Turkey would be a member of the European Union (EU) with this process, Talabani said that to this end, they would also be neighbor of Europe.
Talabani noted that they were against such a war and they condemned it. He stressed that they would do their best to end it.
Replying to questions on federation in Iraq, Talabani said that the decision on this issue belonged to the parliament whose members were elected freely. He noted that there were several examples on this issue in the world.
Talabani said that they were insistent especially on two issues. He listed those two issues as strengthening national unity of Iraq and distributing authority and affluence of the country to all Iraqi people through central government.
Replying to questions on Kirkuk, Talabani said that they considered that Kirkuk was a city of friendship where Kurds, Arabs and Turkmens were living together.
Talabani said that rights of Turkmens should be respected, underlining that they supported Turkmens. He added that they were working with Turkmens for them to have their rights.
Talabani stated that the future of Kirkuk should be determined by people in Kirkuk through compromise.
Stating that they should reach consensus on how those people would participate in federative rights, Talabani said that Kirkuk should be a symbol of integrity of Iraq.
Talabani underlined that a ''real unity'' should also be provided through compromise between Kurds, Arabs and Turkmens in the city.
In regard to some news stories which said that they tried to change demographic structure of the city, PUK leader Talabani said that those news stories were not accurate. He noted that there were good relations between Kurds and Turkmens.
Describing those news stories as ''fabricated'', Talabani said that there were still Kurds living in tents after they were taken out from the city during Saddam period.
When he was reminded of news stories which said that Israel trained Kurdish commandos in northern part of Iraq, Talabani said that he told Gul that those news stories were not true and noted that Gul did not believe in those news stories, either. Talabani said that he also invited everyone to the region to see facts.
Replying to another question, Talabani said that Osman Ocalan, one of heads of terrorist organization, was in Mosul. He noted that they did not meet with him not to spoil relations with Turkey.
Talabani claimed that Osman Ocalan was against war and armed attacks and stated that Osman Ocalan did not come to their region since they did not want to disturb their friends in the region.
Talabani stated that construction of airport in Sulaymaniyah was about to be completed and added that their friends seriously thought of giving them air corridor.
(EÖ-AÖ) 22.06.2004