Gul announces good news on Turkmens

Responding to questions from the press after his return from Kuwait, Gul said, "I emphasized that Turkmens faced a huge injustice in Iraq and Iraq is their home country, too, so no group should be suppressed. Zebari, (who himself is a Kurd) agreed with these views of mine, saying they will be in efforts to eliminate such deficiencies (in Turkmens’ representation) when the interim Governing Council will be renewed."

Gul noted that United Nations Special Representative for Iraq Lahdar Brahimi who attended the meeting as an observer underlined the same point.

Turkey which sees itself as the protector of the Turkmen minority in Iraq is opposed to a plan by Kurds on Iraq’s U.S.- appointed Governing Council to grant wider autonomy beyond the northern Iraq they have run since the 1991 Gulf War.

"There are still some problems, however every one is aware that if things get worse, all Iraqis and neighboring countries will suffer. Therefore, all Iraqis, the U.N. and the U.S. all know what is rational and what is not," said Gul.

Turkey strongly opposes any possibilities of a federal system based on ethnicity or religion, a plan voiced by Iraqi Kurds.

Gul, upon a question from the press, said that he was sure that no ethnic or religious federation will be established in Iraq.

Turkey fears that such a move would rekindle separatism among its own Kurdish citizens and cause instability in the region and also in Iraq’s oil-rich city of Kirkuk which Turkmens, like Turkmens claim as their capital.