A leading Iraqi Kurd told Turkey it had no right to meddle in Iraq's affairs and said any military intervention by Ankara aimed at stalling the creation of a Kurdish state would end in "disaster". Turkey has expressed alarm at what it sees as a drive by the Kurds of northern Iraq to cement their autonomy and possibly to seek full independence from Baghdad. Ankara fears such moves could reignite separatism among the Kurds of southeast Turkey. Turkey is especially concerned that the Kurds may wrest control of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk at the expense of local Arabs and Turkish-speaking Turkmen. It has said it reserves the right to take unspecified action to protect its interests.
"Turkey should not intervene in our domestic affairs. The result of such an intervention would be a disaster for all parties," Masoud Barzani, head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, told CNN Turk in an interview late on Thursday. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and other senior officials have stepped up their criticism of the Kurds since last Sunday's historic elections in Iraq, saying Ankara could not stand idly by if Kirkuk fell into Kurdish hands.