Türkiye cautioned Monday that it may feel compelled to act if Kurdish moves to dominate Kirkuk spark ethnic conflict in the oil-rich northern Iraqi city. Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, speaking to a local English-language daily, said demographic changes in Kirkuk had reached a level Ankara considered dangerous, with the Turkmen community there a particular concern.
Ankara contends that Kurds who relocated to Kirkuk after the US-led invasion in March 2003 have no historic ties to the city, and views the migration as part of a broader Kurdish strategy to eventually make Kirkuk the capital of an independent Kurdish state. Turkish newspapers highlighted remarks by Kurdish leader Massud Barzani suggesting Iraqi Kurds would one day seek statehood, with several front pages treating the comments as a direct challenge to Türkiye.
Kurdish independence is a scenario Ankara fears could energize separatist sentiment among its own Kurdish population in the southeast. Gul emphasized that Türkiye has no territorial claims on Iraq and fully respects its recognized borders.
US Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith, visiting Ankara for talks, said Washington backs Iraqi unity and that the Kirkuk question must be resolved by all Iraqis, not by any single group. Türkiye's foreign ministry welcomed the elections but said it would monitor Kirkuk results carefully.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in January 2005, in its own words.