In an interview with a Turkish newspaper published Friday, Barzani also extended an olive branch to neighboring Turkey, but rejected as "unacceptable" any interference by Ankara in their internal affairs.

"We do want the Sunnis to be included in the political process. We do want them in the government and in the process of drafting the new constitution," Barzani told the English-language New Anatolian. "They should also prepare to participate in the new elections in a year's time."

Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party and its ally, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, won the second largest number of parliamentary seats after the main Shiite alliance and also clinched the majority in the provincial council in Tamim province, where ethnically volatile Kirkuk is located.

The January 30 elections "proved the Kurdish identity of Kirkuk," Barzani said, adding: "We always said we would make no concessions on this."

Kirkuk is also claimed by the Turkmens, an ethnic group of Turkish descent backed by Ankara, who say the Kurds rigged the vote in the city as part of a suspected plot to seize its oil riches and make it the capital of a future independent Kurdish state.

"I hope now that the elections are over they (the Turkmens)... will review their negative policies and display a more friendly attitude. If they extend a friendly hand, we will reciprocate," Barzani said.

Asked whether the Iraqi Kurds aspire to independence, Barzani said: "We want everyone to acknowledge that the Kurdish people have rights... The problems of our brothers and sisters should be solved through peaceful and democratic means. This should not be at the expense of any nation."

He said the Kurdish leadership would use its newly-found political power to create "a pluralistic, democratic and federal Iraq."

Ankara fears that independence-minded moves in northern Iraq may spill over into adjoining southeast Turkey, also home to a sizeable Kurdish community.

"People here feel deep concern, or even anger, when some people in Turkey try to interfere in our internal affairs. This is unacceptable," Barzani said.