Kurdish Prime Minister: Turkish commando incursion was coordinated with Kurdistan

Above: Turkish commandos hang from helicopters at a military parade in Ankara in March.

Iraq's Kurdistan Prime Minister Negervan al-Barazani said on Tuesday the limited presence of some Turkish Commandos in northern Iraq came through coordination with Kurdistan government.

"There is a Turkish presence in Kurdistan region and it came in coordination with the region government," Kurdistan Premier Negervan al-Barazani told a news conference today afternoon in Arbil.

Earlier, media reports indicated that a Turkish Commandos force of 350 troops entered northern Iraq and stationed in the borderline city of Zakho.

Replied to a question on the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's visit to Turkey that started today, Barazani said "al-Maliki's visit to Turkey comes within the efforts to establish good ties and solve all problems with the neighboring state."
"We hope that the visit will be the start to handle all problems between the two countries," the Kurdish Prime Minister said.

As for the Turkish build-up near the borders with Iraq, Barazani considered the Turkish military concentrations as a "threat to Iraq's sovereignty," saying "the build-up is not a problem between Turkey and Kurdistan region, rather it represents a problem between Turkey and Iraq as it is a sovereign state."

Iraqi-Turkish relations have tensed after Turkey massed thousands of troops along the two countries' borders.

The northern Iraqi borders also have been a scene of tension and repeated Turkish artillery shelling. Turkey says its forces are hunting for the banned Turkish Kurdish Workers' party fighters who hide in the border areas inside Iraq's Kurdistan.
Moreover, Kurdistan Prime Minister Barazani expressed the region's government readiness to conduct a dialogue with Turkey on the issue saying "we are ready to start a dialogue with Turkey to end all problems and to establish good ties with neighboring state."

On the presence of the Turkish banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the region, Barazani told reporters at the news conference "we, in the region government, will back no group using the region soil to attack neighboring countries, be it Iran, Turkey or else. We will adhere at this policy."

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