24 Feb. 2008

Erbil, Kurdistan - " Iraq (KRG.org) - " Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani today held a press conference in Erbil, capital of the Kurdistan Region, to discuss the ongoing Turkish military incursion in Iraq and his recent visits to the Republic of Korea and State of Qatar.

The Prime Minister said that he was very concerned by the recent ground incursions by the Turkish military in the Kurdistan Region, and called for an immediate end to armed operations. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) understood that the PKK is a problem for Turkey, condemned the group's violent activities, and had significantly limited the PKK's ability to act inside the region, he added. At the same time, he stressed that only political methods could bring an end to the decades old problem.

Prime Minister Barzani said, "In the 1990s Turkey, at times with our help, tried to solve the problem of the PKK militarily and today they are trying again. But our experience clearly shows that military methods cannot be successful. I am ready to go to Ankara at any point. Four-party talks between Washington, Istanbul, Baghdad, and Erbil will help find a long lasting and peaceful solution to this problem. "

Mr Barzani condemned Turkey's targeting of civilian infrastructure, which is far from the border areas and has no connection with the PKK. He said, "We believe this demonstrates that despite its stated aims, Turkey is targeting the Kurdistan Region itself. I am surprised by Baghdad's weak response to this clear violation of Iraq's sovereignty"

Turning to his recent foreign visits, the Prime Minister said he had visited South Korea to sign two Memoranda of Understanding - the first with a Korean consortium led by the Korean National Oil Company (KNOC) and concerning the oil sector and the second with SOC Consortium, a group of leading Korean construction companies focused on infrastructure programmes in the Kurdistan Region.

He said, "These MOUs, which conform to the Iraqi constitution, ensure that the people of the Kurdistan Region will benefit from enhanced infrastructure services as well as the expertise of Korean companies. In my meetings with president-elect Lee Myung-bak, I expressed our gratitude for the continued support of the Government of South Korea and the special assistance we have received from the Zaytun Division of the Korean Army and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA)."

The second stage of the Prime Minister's foreign trip was to Qatar, where he met with Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Al Thani. Mr Barzani expressed his wish for closer ties between the KRG and Qatar and other Gulf Arab states. At the press conference the Prime Minister said, "There is much scope for cooperation between the Kurdistan Region and Qatar. We are especially interested in strengthening our economic and investment ties and the possibility of establishing scholarships so that students from the Kurdistan Region can benefit from the excellent facilities of Qatar's Education City."