As if possible: More problems brewing in Iraq as Kurds try to ethnically cleanse; Turkey doesn't like it

US sticks to hands-off policy on Kirkuk after Barzani speech tension

US Ambassador Wilson avoids comment on whether it’s right time for Kirkuk referendum, says it is an internal matter for Iraqis to decide on how to determine the fate of the city and not something for outsiders to dictate

The United States has declared that it is still committed to a policy of no interference on whether a contested referendum on the status of the oil-rich Iraqi city of Kirkuk should be held this year as planned, after new tension emerged between Turkey and the Iraqi Kurds over its fate. "The US view is that, at the end of the day, this is an issue for Iraqis to decide for themselves," US Ambassador to Turkey Ross Wilson said in an interview on Monday. "It is not something for outsiders to dictate, and especially to dictate in a public way."

Massoud Barzani, president of the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq, said in remarks broadcast on Saturday that the Iraqi Kurds would stir unrest in Turkey's Kurdish provinces in southeastern Anatolia if Ankara intervenes in the process over determining the fate of Kirkuk, which he claims is part of "Kurdistan." The remarks infuriated the Turkish government, which announced it had sent a note of protest to Baghdad on Monday. Government spokesman Cemil Çiçek, speaking after a Cabinet meeting on Monday, said Ankara had a legitimate interest in developments in northern Iraq because the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants used the region as a springboard to launch attacks on military and civilian targets inside Turkey.

Turkey demands that the referendum on Kirkuk, slated for the end of 2007, should be postponed, complaining that huge numbers of Kurds have migrated to the city in past years in an attempt to change the demographic structure of the city ahead of the vote.

Wilson said he did not know whether the referendum would take place as planned, given several shifts in target dates so far in Iraq. "I don't know if it's going to take place by then or not. There are lots of target dates and timeframes built into the Constitution and Iraqi legislation and political decisions that have slipped, and in some cases slipped quite significantly. Whether that's going to be the fate of this particular provision or not I do not know," he said when asked whether it was the right time for a referendum given the tension surrounding the issue.“I do know there is a lively conversation going on in Iraq about Kirkuk, about the wisdom of going forward with this referendum, what should be the timing, what would be the effect if it goes ahead, either on schedule or more or less on schedule.”

Commenting on Barzani’s remarks, Wilson repeated the US position that such statements were not helpful. “This kind of rhetoric is not useful, it’s not helpful. We need to lower the temperature, lower the rhetoric and work on these practical problems,” he said. According to the US diplomat, there are several practical issues on which Turkey and Iraq can work together, including the problem of the PKK presence in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq.

He also repeated that the US was committed to taking action with respect to the PKK presence in Iraq, without elaborating on what measures could be taken. “There is still work to do, and we recognize that,” he said.

He also emphasized that the US was committed to supporting the existing borders in the region: “The US strongly supports the territorial integrity of Turkey; we support the existing boundaries in this area. Any influence that moves toward changes in that respect is not helpful,” he said.

Orginal article posted here.