Turkey, Egypt warn against dividing Iraq

"We are unanimous that Iraq’s territorial integrity must be preserved and that any attempts towards a break-up or division would bring about danger and uncertainty," Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak told a press conference here after talks with his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Necdet Sezer.

The Egyptian leader called for a "constitution that will facilitate co-habitation instead of a structure based on ethnic grounds".

Echoing Mubarak, Sezer said his country strongly backed Iraq’s territorial and national unity.

Ankara has issued harsh warnings to Iraqi Kurds, fearing that enhanced autonomy in northern Iraq could rekindle separatism among its own restive Kurds in Turkey’s southeast.

Iraq’s two other neighbours, Iran and Syria, are also opposed to autonomy for Iraq’s Kurds for fear of repercussions among their own Kurdish minorities.

Mubarak also underlined Cairo’s wish for a "just and lasting" peace between Israel and the Palestinians, and said both Egypt and Turkey were ready to help jumpstart peace talks.

"We are unanimous on the need for a resumption of negotiations between the two sides on the basis of the roadmap, and for Egypt and Turkey to provide the necessary support to this aim, according to developments," he said.

Mubarak also called for the resumption of peace talks between Israel and Syria.

Mubarak last visited Turkey in 1998 in a bid to defuse tension between Ankara and Damascus when the former was threatening military action if Syria continued to harbour Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan and his armed militants.