CELTIK - Parliament Speaker Omer Izgi has said that the Turkish government cannot accept a Kurdish state to be established with Kirkuk as its capital and added that efforts to establish a Kurdish state in Northern Iraq cannot be successful as long as Turkey opposes to it.
Speaking to reporters in Konya on Saturday, Izgi said that Turkmens lived mostly in Kirkuk, Mousul and As Sulaymaniyah and this has been this way for many years.
Izgi said that the United States and some Western countries have been supporting efforts to found a Kurdish state in this region and adressing to these countries, he said ''It is impossible to set up a Kurdish state, especially with Kirkuk with capital in that region. They should have known this. Turkey is clear and determined about this matter. All these efforts to set up a Kurdish state in Northern Iraq will fail as long as Turkey's opposition continues. Even if they try to establish a state, Kirkuk, Mousul and As Sulaymaniyah cannot be given to this state.''
Responding a question, Izgi said Barzani and Talabani had always warm feelings towards the PKK for many years. He said that these two Kurdish leaders provided shelter for about 5,000 PKK terrorists. ''They are saying 'We're going to found Kurdistan here, you go and continue to work in Turkey.' They were saying this also in the past, this is not new. But today, Turkey is aware of the realities,'' he said.
Izgi said that Turkey had the best weapons in the Middle East and Russia and added that terrorism cannot hurt the country as much as it did in the past.
When asked if there would be a parliamentary meeting about a U.S. operation against Iraq, Izgi said they had no such plans at the moment.