"NO TOLERANCE FOR A KURDISH STATE"

While the international public opinion harshly criticizes the initiatives of the IKDP and the IPUK to establish a Kurdish state based on "ethnicity" in the north of Iraq, the US authorities note that "establishment of a Kurdish state in the region will never be allowed and the region will be cleared from terrorists".

Kurdish organizations other than the IKDP and the IPUK as well as the Asyrians, Arabs and Turkmen stress that "they advocate the preservation of the territorial integrity, political unity and sovereignty of Iraq under any circumstances and the establishment of a democratic structure".

The US State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher, who held a press conference on April 11, 2003 regarding the crisis emerged in the region following the entrance of Iraqi Kurdish peshmargas into Kirkuk, stated that armed groups (IKDP, IPUK) would not be allowed to keep under control any Iraqi cities or oil fields including Mosul and Kirkuk, and the establishment of a Kurdish state based on ethnicity in the north of Iraq would never be permitted.

The US State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher, who gave a severe response to the entrance of Kurdish peshmargas into Kirkuk, said the following:

"The cooperation agreement signed formerly for removing the concerns of Turkey in regard to Northern Iraq is still in force. The agreement between Turkey and the US is maintained successfully. While the US troops are expected to arrive in the cities of Mosul and Kirkuk, our proposal for the presence of Turkish officers there for liaison purposes is still valid. As a result of the meeting between Colin Powell and Abdullah Gul, it was decided that Turkish liaison officers would conduct investigations in the region. It is the firm US position that no group should control Iraqi cities and oil fields. The US troops will ensure control in Kirkuk and Mosul as soon as possible."

As to the reports suggesting that after entering into Kirkuk Kurdish peshmargas arrested some Turkmen leaders and plundered the houses and public offices of Turkmen, the State Department Spokesman Boucher said, "The related information is not confirmed yet. We should be careful about such reports until we definitely find out whether they are true or not. The US troops will establish there the necessary rules and order as soon as possible. We will take all the measures so as to avoid any developments that could concern the Turkish Government", and warned the IKDP and the IPUK authorities.

In the meantime, the IKDP leader Mesud Barzani made a press statement and said, "the IPUK forces must immediately leave Kirkuk. We are ready to act together with Turkey in the region", showing his response to the IPUK's entrance into Kirkuk.

After these developments, Bahros Galali spoke to the AFP on behalf of the IPUK leader Talabani and expressed that "peshmargas in Kirkuk would leave the city as of April 11, 2003; Europe and the neighboring countries, particularly the USA and Turkey, were in favor of the maintenance of Iraq's territorial integrity and were against the establishment of a Kurdish state in the region".

On the other hand, the US State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher, expressing that the US would take effective measures against the terrorist groups active in Iraq, said, "the US opinion regarding the terrorist identity of the PKK-KADEK has never changed. The PKK-KADEK is a terrorist group and also maintains relations with the other terrorist groups in the region. Our struggle against those groups included in the list of terrorist organizations, mainly the PKK-KADEK will be sustained intensively". Boucher also noted that operations could be launched against 5 thousand PKK-KADEK elements operating in the north of Iraq.

The international public opinion is expecting to see that the Iraq war ends as soon as possible in a way not resulting in an upheaval that could negatively affect the peace, stability and security in the region and not causing the death of more people, and that the territorial integrity, political unity and sovereignty of Iraq is preserved under any circumstances.