JOINT COMMUNIQUE OF THE PEOPLES LIVING IN IRAQ;
"TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY OF IRAQ WILL BE PRESERVED"

The joint communiqué of the representatives of the people living in Iraq stressed that "the territorial integrity of Iraq would be maintained after the war and that an ethnic state would not be established in the region".

The joint communiqué, issued at the end of the meeting held in Ankara on March 18-19, 2003 with the participation of the representatives of the Assyrian Democratic Movement, Constitutional Monarchy Movement, Iraqi National Accord, Iraqi National Congress, Iraqi Turkmen Front, Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party, Iraqi Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, United States and Turkey, emphasized that "the territorial integrity of Iraq would be preserved and that Iraq would be eliminated from weapons of mass destruction within the scope of the U.N. resolutions".

The communiqué, stating that natural resources of Iraq would be used as a national asset and for the Iraqi people as a whole to strengthen the national economy, stressed that all the regions and provinces in the country constituted the Iraqi soil as a whole.

The joint communiqué of the Iraqi opposition asserted that civilian lives and property would be protected and uncontrolled movements of refugees and internally displaced persons would be strongly discouraged. It said "all Iraqis will be able to resolve their claims in a peaceful and manner through this commission".

Stressing that discrimination based on race, ethnic origin, gender, language or religious conviction would be eliminated, the statement listed the constituent peoples of Iraq as the Arabs, Kurds, Turkmens, Assyrians, Chaldeans, and others.

The statement stressed the protection of the rights and freedoms of all these constituent peoples of Iraq will be paramount in a future Iraq.

The participants also agreed on elimination of terrorism and of support for terrorism as well as "denial of safe havens and weaponry to terrorists", the statement said. It stressed that the struggle would go on until Iraq would be clear from terrorist organizations and that the terrorist organizations in the region, particularly the KADEK-PKK, are not welcome.

Meanwhile, The European Union did not approve the creation of a Kurdish state in the northern parts of Iraq. The announcement of the European Union stressed "The Union is definitely against a change of the current borders of Iraq after the US operation". Reijo Kemppinen, the Spokesman of the EU Commission, clearly revealed the attitude of the EU regarding a "Kurdish state", when he answered the question "Does the EU approve the creation of a Kurdish state in Iraq?" as follows: "The EU is definitely against the creation of a Kurdish state in the region. The EU envisages the maintenance of the territorial integrity of Iraq".

Regional peace and stability can only be maintained with "the preservation of territorial integrity of a democratized and disarmed Iraq", within the framework of the resolutions of the United Nations, putting aside the unlimited political ambitions of certain groups.