almotamar.net - WASHINGTON: The U.S. State Department scolded Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani on Monday for threatening Turkey about sensitive deliberations on the future status of the oil-rich Iraqi city of Kirkuk.
Barzani issued the warning after last week's endorsement by the Iraqi government of a decision to relocate and compensate thousands of Arabs who moved to the city as part of Saddam Hussein's campaign to push out the Kurds.
Some in Turkey have hinted at military action to prevent Iraqi Kurds from gaining control of Kirkuk. The concern is that Iraq's Kurds want Kirkuk's oil revenues to fund a bid for outright independence, not just autonomy. This, in turn, could energize Turkish Kurds who have battled for decades to win their own autonomy.
Rebuking Barzani, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said, "We think that those kinds of statements are really unhelpful, and they certainly do not further the goal of greater Turkish-Iraqi cooperation on issues of common concern, including fighting the PKK."
The PKK is the Kurdistan Workers Party, the heart of the separatist movement in Turkey.

Barzani had warned Turkey not to interfere in the discussions about Kirkuk, declaring that Iraq's Kurds otherwise could retaliate by intervening in Turkey's predominantly Kurdish southeast.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan reacted sharply to Barzani's remarks, saying if Iraqi Kurds interfere in southeastern Turkey, the price they pay "will be very high."
McCormack said the PKK has been making cross-border raids from northern Iraq into Turkey, killing innocent Turkish civilians. He said he worries that the PKK could step up their attacks, taking advantage as they have before of the warmer weather in coming spring.
The spokesman noted that the United States has assigned a special envoy, retired Gen. Joseph Ralston, to work with the Iraqis and the Turks on how they might build confidence with one another on the border issue.
He praised the "great efforts" Turkey has made to bring about the next conference of Iraq's neighbors, set for early May, as a follow-up to the initial meeting last month.
Istanbul had been seen as a possible site for the second meeting, but it will be held instead in Sharm el-Sheik, the Egyptian town at the tip of the Sinai peninsula.
McCormack said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice discussed Turkey's relations with Iraq during a weekend telephone conversation with Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul.
"She expressed her support for Turkey's actions in rallying the neighbors to get together for the Iraq neighbors conference," McCormack said.
Asked why Istanbul was not chosen to host the meeting, McCormack said Iraqi authorities would have to answer that question because they are convening the meeting.