Turkey Receives Talbani as Kurdish Leader, Not Iraq's
President
Mar 9, 2008,
Monsters and Critics
Baghdad - Kurdish newspapers Sunday condemned as 'improper' the reception of
Iraqi president Jalal Talabani in Turkey, where he was officially welcomed
without the Iraqi national anthem being played or a red carpet being laid on.
Talabani was received by the Turkish president Abdullah Gul and his prime
minister as a Kurdish leader, not as the president of Iraq, the Kurdish Hawlaty
newspaper said.
On his arrival at Ankara airport, Talabani was received by the deputy of
Turkish prime minister.
It added that Turkish army leaders did not welcome Talabani to the country,
which prompted Gul to describe the visit as a 'working visit' not a state one.
Another Kurdish paper called Hewler said that the official ceremony to receive
Talabani did not meet the common etiquette standards applied to welcoming
presidents of states.
Talabani began an official visit to Ankara Friday, a week after the end of a
major Turkish offensive aimed at Kurdish guerrillas in Iraqi Kurdistan.
During his visit, he promised Turkish leaders that he would take action against
the Kurdish guerrillas.
