Reuters: Turkish PM warns Iraqi Kurds over Kirkuk

[Eugene]

Turkish PM warns Iraqi Kurds over Kirkuk
Tue Jan 9, 2007 8:19am ET

ANKARA (Reuters) - Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday Turkey could
not stand idly by if Iraqi Kurds seized control of oil-rich Kirkuk in northern Iraq,
though he did not spell out what Ankara might do to prevent such a scenario.

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Ankara has accused the Kurds of deliberately boosting their numbers in Kirkuk,
at the expense of Arabs and Turkish-speaking Turkmens, to ensure the city votes
in an eventual referendum in favor of being incorporated into Iraq's Kurdish region.

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He did not say how Turkey might act. Analysts rule out any military intervention
by Turkey, a NATO ally of the United States, but say Ankara is likely to increase
it diplomatic and commercial pressure on the Kurds. Turkish territory provides crucial
land routes for Iraqi oil exports to the West.

Turkey wants any future referendum on Kirkuk's status to lead to power-sharing
between its ethnic groups and to confirm the city's place within a politically united
Iraq.

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Full article: http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2007-01-09T131845Z_01_L09818009_RTRUKOC_0_US-TURKEY-IRAQ-KURDS.xml