Turkish Leader Warns of Kurd Role in Iraq

Kurdish control of an autonomous area in a future Iraqi state would threaten the stability of the country, a view shared by northern Iraq's neighbors, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday.

Turkish leaders have repeatedly said they fear that expanding Kurdish self-rule in northern Iraq could lead to the country breaking apart and could threaten the stability of Iraq's neighbors, which has sizable Kurdish minorities.

"Let me be open and very frank with you," Erdogan said. "Any federal system based on ethnicity is not going to be healthy and will damage the future of Iraq."

Kurds are demanding autonomy in northern Iraq within a unified state and are asking for control of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, a step that Turkish leaders have said is intolerable.

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20040121_1839.html

Also see http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=322021

any time now. If we turn our backs on the Kurds who have supported us from the beginning, they are going to be mad. If we give the Kurds what they want, Turkey is going to be mad. Not to mention all of the Muslim factions struggling for a voice in Central and Southern Iraq.

This is looking more and more like a terrible idea. The whole region is going to fall apart unless somebody with brains takes over.

Honestly, the Kurds are the only reliable group in the region. It would be an embarrassment to deny them sovereignty.

Since Turkey didn't help us with departure points and airspace, they don't get a say at the table. Sorry, they don't have any capital in the matter.

A sure way to settle this whole issue is to arm the Kurds to the teeth and let THEM take care of the Iraqi insurgents. Let the Kurds and the Shiite's divide the country in two and SCREW the Sunnis.

The big provision is that they MUST recognize the border with Turkey. Beyond this, it's really none of Turkey's business. The Kurds could became Israel #2 in the Middle East region. They deliver.

America should take heed in what Turkey is warning them about.

Just think of Kurds as Palestinians, and Turkey as a rather large, thick-ankled girl who is trying to persuade the US that they would make a better girlfriend...