The leaders of Iraq's neighbors, Syria and Turkey, insisted that Iraq remain united, issuing a warning to Kurds who may aspire to create an independent state in the north of the country.
The statements came Tuesday as Iraq's Governing Council hammered out details of a new government for Iraq. Iraqi Kurdish leaders are asking for greater autonomy for the oil-rich north and a federal Iraq based on two ethnic states.
Although Iraqi Kurdish leaders are not asking for independence, Turkey fears that increased autonomy and states based on ethnic identity will encourage separatism.
Turkish Kurdish rebels fought a 15-year war for autonomy in southeastern Turkey that claimed some 37,000 lives.
Turkish leaders have repeatedly said they will not tolerate Kurdish independence in Iraq, which they say will lead to the disintegration of the country and the destabilization of the region. Iran, Syria and Turkey all have large Kurdish minorities in regions bordering Iraq.
`territorial integrity'
"We condemn all approaches that pose a threat to Iraq's territorial integrity," Syrian President Bashar Assad said after flying to Ankara in the first visit to Turkey by a Syrian head of state and meeting with his Turkish counterpart, Ahmet Necdet Sezer.
Sezer added that Syria and Turkey "share the same views on the protection of Iraq's territorial integrity and of its national unity ... . We confirmed that Turkey and Syria, as two countries of the region that neighbor Iraq, are determined to effectively watch over these goals."
Earlier, Assad told CNN Turk television that "if there is no territorial integrity in Iraq, we cannot talk about stability in Iraq or in our countries. ... We are not only against a Kurdish state, but any state that would break the integrity of Iraq."
The warnings came in statements delivered at the end of a ceremony to mark the signing of agreements to promote mutual cooperation.
Northern Iraq is a largely autonomous area that is one of the relatively stable regions of the country with few US troops.
Turkey is particularly worried about Kurdish control over the oil-rich northern city of Kirkuk. Iraqi Kurdish fighters moved into the city after the fall of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, and control over its resources would make a possible state more economically viable.
As the leaders met in Ankara, US Secretary of State Colin Powell emphasized Washington's commitment to keeping Iraq unified.
consultation
"The Kurds wish, in some way, to preserve their historic identity and to link it in some way to geography," Powell said Tuesday in Washington. "But I think it's absolutely clear that that part of Iraq must remain part of Iraq.
"We'll be in close consultation not only with Turkey, but with the other neighbors in the region who have an interest as well," he added.
The Turkish-Syrian meeting came just a few days before a weekend visit to Tehran by Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul. Iran, one of Iraq's other neighbors, also opposes any moves toward Iraqi Kurdish independence.
"Turkey has been increasing dialogue with Syria and Iran," said Soner Cagaptay, an analyst with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "All of these three have ongoing anxieties over northern Iraq. The war has moved Syria, Turkey and Iran closer to each other on this issue."
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to raise the issue of northern Iraq this month when he meets with US President George W. Bush in Washington.
Asian perspectives of the US have shifted from a country once perceived as a force of “moral legitimacy” to something akin to “a landlord seeking rent,” Singaporean Minister for Defence Ng Eng Hen (黃永宏) said on the sidelines of an international security meeting. Ng said in a round-table discussion at the Munich Security Conference in Germany that assumptions undertaken in the years after the end of World War II have fundamentally changed. One example is that from the time of former US president John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address more than 60 years ago, the image of the US was of a country
‘UNUSUAL EVENT’: The Australian defense minister said that the Chinese navy task group was entitled to be where it was, but Australia would be watching it closely The Australian and New Zealand militaries were monitoring three Chinese warships moving unusually far south along Australia’s east coast on an unknown mission, officials said yesterday. The Australian government a week ago said that the warships had traveled through Southeast Asia and the Coral Sea, and were approaching northeast Australia. Australian Minister for Defence Richard Marles yesterday said that the Chinese ships — the Hengyang naval frigate, the Zunyi cruiser and the Weishanhu replenishment vessel — were “off the east coast of Australia.” Defense officials did not respond to a request for comment on a Financial Times report that the task group from
BLIND COST CUTTING: A DOGE push to lay off 2,000 energy department workers resulted in hundreds of staff at a nuclear security agency being fired — then ‘unfired’ US President Donald Trump’s administration has halted the firings of hundreds of federal employees who were tasked with working on the nation’s nuclear weapons programs, in an about-face that has left workers confused and experts cautioning that the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE’s) blind cost cutting would put communities at risk. Three US officials who spoke to The Associated Press said up to 350 employees at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) were abruptly laid off late on Thursday, with some losing access to e-mail before they’d learned they were fired, only to try to enter their offices on Friday morning
STEADFAST DART: The six-week exercise, which involves about 10,000 troops from nine nations, focuses on rapid deployment scenarios and multidomain operations NATO is testing its ability to rapidly deploy across eastern Europe — without direct US assistance — as Washington shifts its approach toward European defense and the war in Ukraine. The six-week Steadfast Dart 2025 exercises across Bulgaria, Romania and Greece are taking place as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine approaches the three-year mark. They involve about 10,000 troops from nine nations and represent the largest NATO operation planned this year. The US absence from the exercises comes as European nations scramble to build greater military self-sufficiency over their concerns about the commitment of US President Donald Trump’s administration to common defense and
RSS