IRAQI KURDS NOT LOOKING FOR INDEPENDENCE

national | miscellaneous | news report Saturday March 22, 2003 14:48 by Simon Co. Clare

Green Party TDs wrongly criticised for not supporting Sinn Fein motion

IRAQI KURDS NOT LOOKING FOR INDEPENDENCE. Green Party TDs wrongly criticised for not supporting Sinn Fein motion.

The Green Party TDs have been wrongly criticised for not supporting a Sinn Fein motion in the Dail on Thursday calling for Kurdish Self-Determination. It is not as simple as supporting Kurdish self-determination or not. The leadership of the two Kurdish controled autonomous areas in Northern Iraq are not looking for independance. They are looking for autonomy in a new democratic Iraq.
Here is an excerpt from a joint statement made by The Kurdistan Democratic Party and The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan on March 2nd last:

"The unity of the Iraqi Kurdistan Forces, under the JHL, will consolidate and strengthen the unity of the Iraqi opposition forces that aspire to end dictatorship and establish a democratic, pluralistic federal system in Iraq."
Here is the statement on the KDP website:
http://www.kdp.pp.se/press/030303.htm

If the Kurdish people in Iraq said quite clearly that they wanted independance then I'm sure that The Green Party would support it.

Meanwhile what everyone dreaded has happened, Turkish troops have crossed the border into Northern Iraq in order to crack down on their old enemies. This may also prompt Iran to do the same.