Kurds protest Turkish vote on Iraq raids
Thousands of Kurds in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil marched today to call for peaceful dialogue with Turkey and to protest its Parliament’s approval a day earlier of a measure authorizing troops to cross into northern Iraq to confront Kurdish rebels.
The marchers insisted on resistance to any military incursion from Turkey, Reuters reported.
At the same time, the Iraqi foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, said Iraq wanted the Kurdish rebels to leave northern Iraq as soon as possible, according to Reuters.
The Wednesday vote sent an angry message to the Baghdad government and its Washington sponsor. But Turkey, a member of NATO, made it clear that it would not immediately carry out the resolution, and today Mr. Zebari said he did not expect military action anytime soon, according to Reuters. [complete article]
