Independent Kurdish state not reason for war anymore, says AKP spokesperson Çelik

ISTANBUL

A picture taken on April 27, 2014, shows the City Park in front of the citadel and a Kurdish flag in Arbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq. AFP Photo

An independent Kurdish state was a reason for war in the past, however the situation has changed, according to Hüseyin Çelik, spokesperson for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

“In Turkey, even the word ‘Kurdistan’ makes people nervous, but their name is Kurdistan,” Çelik told the Financial Times. “If Iraq is divided and it is inevitable, they are our brothers. Unfortunately, the situation in Iraq is not good and it looks like [the country] is going to be divided,” he added, while cautioning that Kurdish independence was not Turkey’s “number one choice.”

Çelik also blamed Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and the United States for the ongoing bloodshed in the neighboring country.

“They didn’t bring peace, stability or unity [to Iraq]; they just left chaos, widows and orphans. They created a Shia bloc to the south of our country,” Çelik added.