ANKARA (CIHAN) - Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITC) Chairman Faruk Abdullah Abdurrahman stated on Wednesday that a federation based on ethnicity would divide Iraq.
Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan received Abdurrrahman and the two met for one hour on Wednesday. Abdurrahman delivered a press statement after the discussion and said, "A federation based on ethnicity would divide Iraq. We (ITC and Turkmen people) think that a federal structure based on 18 provinces will protect the integrity of Iraq."
Responding to a question concerning Israel training Kurdish Peshmerga fighters in Northern Iraq, Abdurrahman said, "There is no evidence that this is true. It may indeed be true, but we must have documented evidence".
Noting that the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk has a special statue, Abdurrahman stated that, "The true Kerkük people among the groups of Arabic, Kurdish, Turkmen and Assyrian can be determined through the census made in 1957. People, whose fathers and grand fathers lived in Kerkük in 1957, are from Kerkük."
Referring to the transfer of power in Iraq to the Iraqi people on June 30, Abdurrahman said, "This period is a critical period. Every Iraqi must know that he plays a big role here. There must be an Iraqi consciousness that does not discriminate against religion or language. Fighting among Iraqi citizens damages us."