Turkish Official Warns Iraqi Kurds

[cal04]

Turkey's foreign minister warned Sunday that dividing Iraq along religious or ethnic lines would cause more chaos and would not help ease the bloodshed there.

``There are those who think that dividing Iraq might be better, that this chaos might end,'' Abdullah Gul told reporters. ``This is what we say: Don't even think of such an alternative because that would lead Iraq toward new chaos.''

Turkey, which shares a border with Iraq, has its own large and restive Kurdish population and is wary of any moves toward a separatist Kurdish state in Iraq for fears that would encourage Turkey's own Kurdish population to join their Iraqi counterparts to fight for an independent state.

Gul said Iraq's neighbors would not stand by and watch the country being carved up.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6194361,00.html

[0rganism]

1. thus laying the groundwork for the 3-way civil war to become an 8-way clusterfuck

Eventually, Turkey, Iran, and Syria will become actively involved in the various ethnic struggles already afoot...

[provis99]

2. yeah, well no surprises there.

to Republicans I spit my favorite phrase: "I told you so!". Before the war, plenty of academics and advisors (including me) predicted that the inevitable collapse of Iraq would cause problems throughout the area, as the Kurds asserted themselves. Nice going Bush! Now you've pissed off our Turkish allies, too!