Iraqi Kurds plan election in 2005 for a "Kurdistan" govt

A Kurdish official Barham Salih said in Washington that Kurds would complete the process of integration among them and they would hold elections in May 2005 to form a "Kurdistan" government. Meanwhile, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Kurds’ steps that they have taken in the city of Kirkuk were not healthy.

Patriotic Union Of Kurdistan (PUK) official Salih stated that the party’s leader Jalal Talabani and Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader Massoud Barzani would join and they started a process of integration to form a "Kurdistan" government in the region.

While he is explaning his opinions over the future of Iraq, Salih stated that they had been planning an election in May 2005.

On the other hand Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan responded that the steps that Kurds had been taking in Kirkuk were not healthy.

Speaking to Newsweek magazine he stated that a federation based on ethnical elements in Iraq would not be appropriate.

Erdogan said that the government had many times stated that formation of a federation based on ethnical elements in Iraq would not be beneficial.

Turkey was sharing same views with neighbor countries, Erdogan noted.

Erdogan said that formations based on religions were not beneficial either.