|
We are against a
Kurdish state: US
State
Department official says that Washington is in close contact with Ankara on
every issue concerning Iraq.
Oct
25, 2002
The US
is committed to preserving the territorial integrity of Iraq, a spokesman for
the Bush Administration said on Thursday, effectively ruling out an independent
Kurdish state in the north of the country.
State
Department spokesman Phil Reeker, speaking at a press conference in Washington,
said that US policy was to not to back the break up of
Iraq
“We
are against the establishment of a Kurdish state,” Reeker said.
He
said that Washington and Ankara had strong ties but refused to comment on
whether US and British planes based in southern Turkey would be used in a
possible operation against Iraq.
He
said he had not heard reports that the Bush administration had guaranteed the
Kurdish factions in Northern Iraq that Turkey would not enter their territory.
|
