| Iraq’s Talabani rules out Kurdish state as a dream |
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ISTANBUL - Iraqi President Jalal Talabani ruled out the possibility of an independent Kurdish state in a bid to appease regional countries' concerns regarding the issue.
Talabani told daily Sabah in an interview yesterday that it would not be realistic to believe that an independent Kurdish state could survive as it was likely that neighboring countries Turkey, Iran and Syria would close their borders after such a declaration.
"I tell my Turkish brothers not to fear that Kurds will declare their independence. It is in Kurds’ advantage to stay within the borders of Iraq in terms of their economic, cultural, social and political interests," he said. He said uniting all Kurds, including those in Turkey and Iran, within one Kurdish state was "just a dream in poems."
"How will you divide Turkey, Iran or Iraq? It is impossible to even contemplate this. It would need a world war for such a thing to happen. This is impossible," he said. Talabani also said 95 percent of Iraqi Kurds voted in favor of the new Iraqi constitution, which demonstrated that the country was "a democratic, federal, representative republic," in a show of support to the unity of Iraq.
Talabani, who is in Istanbul to attend the 5th World Water Forum, met Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan late on Sunday. |
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