Tell the Turds to go fuck themselves, George! Stick up for the Kurds, damn you!
AP
Turkey warns Iraqi Kurds on interference

By SUZAN FRASER, Associated Press Writer 28 minutes ago

ANKARA, Turkey - The prime minister on Monday warned Iraqi Kurds against interfering in southeastern Turkey, where the Kurdish majority is fighting Turkish security forces, saying "the price for them will be very high."

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was responding to Massoud Barzani, leader of the Kurdish autonomous region in
Iraq, who said Iraqi Kurds would retaliate for any Turkish interference in northern Iraq by stirring up trouble in southeastern Turkey.

"He's out of place," Erdogan said of Barzani. "He'll be crushed under his words."

The verbal sparring was set off by Barzani on Saturday when he said in an interview with al-Arabiyah television that Iraqi Kurds could "interfere" in Kurdish-majority Turkish cities if Ankara interfered in northern Iraq.

The remark touched a nerve in Turkey, where more than 37,000 people have been killed in fighting between Turkish security forces and Kurdish rebels since 1984, most of them in the southeastern region bordering Iraq. Turkey fears that any moves toward greater independence for Kurds in northern Iraq could incite Turkey's own estimated 14 million Kurds to outright rebellion.

Turkey is especially concerned about Barzani's bid to incorporate the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk into his semiautonomous region, fearing that Iraqi Kurds will use revenues from the city's oil wealth to fund a bid for independence.

"Northern Iraq, which is a neighbor, is making a serious mistake: The price for them will be very high," Erdogan warned.

Last week, the Iraqi government decided to implement a constitutional requirement to determine the status of Kirkuk — which is disputed among several different ethnic groups — by the end of the year. The plan is expected to turn Kirkuk and its vast oil reserves over to Kurdish control, a step rejected by many of Iraq's Arabs and its Turkmen — ethnic Turks who are strongly backed by the Turkish government.

Some in Turkey have hinted at military action to prevent the Kurds from gaining control of Kirkuk.

Barzani's remarks were front-page news and angered many in Turkey, with opposition parties criticizing the government for not responding harshly to the Kurdish leader's threat.

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul called Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice on Saturday to discuss Barzani's remarks, the government-run Anatolia news agency reported.

Kursad Tuzmen, the Turkish minister in charge of trade, said earlier Monday: "Turkey's hand of friendship is warm and solid. But for those who don't deserve it, it is very heavy — it should never be tested." Turkey is an important trading partner for the Iraqi Kurds.

In the interview with Al-Arabiya on Saturday Barzani said: "Turkey is not allowed to intervene in the Kirkuk issue and if it does, we will interfere in Diyarbakir's issues and other cities in Turkey." Diyarbakir is the largest city in Turkey's Kurdish-dominated southeast.

When asked about the Turkmen minority in Kirkuk and Turkey's concern for its ethnic brethren, Barzani shot back:

"There are 30 million Kurds in Turkey and we don't interfere there. If they (the Turks) interfere in Kirkuk over just thousands of Turkmen, then we will take action for the 30 million Kurds in Turkey."

"I hope we don't reach this point, but if the Turks insist on intervening in the Kirkuk matter I am ready to take responsibility for our response," Barzani said.

The ancient city of Kirkuk has a large minority of Turkmen as well as Christians, Shiite and Sunni Arabs, Armenians and Assyrians.

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Associated Press Writer Benjamin Harvey in Istanbul contributed to this report.