Warning : Don’t stir up Kirkuk

In an exclusive interview with the TDN, Foreign Minister Gül stressed that Turkey was not threatening an intervention but that everyone should bear in mind that the government of any democratic country must take into consideration the sentiments and sensitivities of its public.

Top priority: normalization of Iraq:
First of all, we want normalization in Iraq. We hope, as the roadmap is implemented after the elections, that things will get better, but the potential exists for the eruption of a problem that we have not seen thus far: ethnic confrontation, Gul cautioned, adding. The soft under-belly of this appears to be Kirkuk. That’s why we are so worried.

No territorial designs:

No territorial designs:

Kirkuk and Mosul are Iraqi provinces. Our borders are clear. We have no territorial designs. We have no territorial demands on any country. When we talk about the integrity of Iraq, we mean the internationally recognized borders of Iraq, Gul said.

A new campaign under way:

Foreign Minister Gul complained that it was unfortunate but that lately, in a manner different from that employed by the Saddam Hussein regime, a concerted campaign was again under way, this time by Kurdish factions, to change the demographic composition of Kirkuk. This could trigger a civil war he warned.

Is Turkey threatening an intervention?

In a veiled threat, Gul warned Iraqi Kurds that should a civil war start in Kirkuk, the Turkish government may feel compelled to heed to public sentiment in Turkey and take actions that it otherwise would not consider.

Pessimistic on Cyprus:

On the thorny Cyprus issue, Foreign Minister Gul stressed that Ankara very much wanted a resumption of the peace process but said both the restart of the Cyprus talks as well as their success depended in large part on whether the Greek Cypriot side had changed its position and wanted a settlement.