With Turkish troops on the ground in northern Iraq, Iraq’s al-Iraqi newspaper reported Saturday that a Kurdish member of Iraq’s Parliament said he holds U.S. forces responsible for Turkey’s invason of Iraq’s sovereignty. According to the legislator, named Al-Atrushi, ‘Everyone knows that since the Iraqi Army was dissolved in 2003, the task of America’s occupation force in Iraq has been to protect the nation’s borders until Iraq’s new force is ready to take over …
Translated By James Jacobson
February 23, 2008
Iraq – Al-Iraq News – Original Article (Arabic)
Kurdish Member of Parliament Al-Atrushi said that the entry of Turkish forces onto Iraqi land is a violation of Iraqi sovereignty, and blamed the American occupation forces for the events taking place in northern Iraq. According to Al-Atrushi, everyone knows that since the Iraqi Army was dissolved in 2003, the task of America’s occupation force in Iraq has been to protect the nation’s borders until Iraq’s new force is ready to take over.
Al-Atrushi said it was illogical for the U.S. occupation to allow Turkish forces to enter Iraqi territory to carry out military operations which could put Kurdish citizens at risk, adding that Peshmerga forces in northern Iraq are on full alert and are fully prepared to cope in the event that Turkish forces enter Kurdish cities and threaten Kurdish citizens.
He was referring to declarations by the President of the Kurdish Autonomous Region, Masoud Al-Barzani, who visited the city of Dahuk (capital of Dahuk Province in north Iraq – see map, right) on Friday in order to calm residents there.
Al-Atrushi said that so far, all deaths and injuries suffered by Kurdish citizens were a result of Turkish aerial bombing, and not Turkey’s armed invasion [which began Friday, Feb. 22], and he emphasized that for the sake of really solving the problem of the Kurdistan Worker’s Party [PKK ], Turkey needs to work through normal diplomatic channels with Iraq, rather than resorting to a military solution. He also expressed the belief that the solution of the PKK problem is in the hands of the Turkish government, and is an integral part of the problem with the Kurds of Turkey.
READ ON AT WORLDMEETS.US, along with continuing coverage of what Iraqis think about the Iraq War.
Founder and Managing Editor of Worldmeets.US