ANKARA (CIHAN) - The Turkish parliament speaker Bulent Arinç said on Friday that the Turkish government and parliament have been closely monitoring affairs in Northern Iraq and the problems of the ethnic Turkmens there. Arinç also pledged to do whatever he could for the Iraqi Turkmens.
The Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA) speaker on Friday received the Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITF) leader Abdullah Abdurrahman and the ITF Turkey representative Ahmet Muratlý. Arýnc said at the reception that the future of the Iraqi Turkmens closely concerned the 70-million Turkish citizens. He said that the parliament and government were closely following developments in Iraq. "We hope that democratic life takes root in Iraq."
Arinc said that the Turkish parliament was ready to do its best for the Iraqi Turkmens.
ITF chairman Abdurrahman said that the moves to leave the 3 million Iraqi Turkmens outside the Iraqi administration following the toppling of Saddam Hussein were worrying. "This attitude stems from the intimidation of the Iraqi Turkmens and the perception of them as a small ethnic group."