Turkey says 'will do what is necessary' after Kurds enter Kirkuk

ANKARA (AFP) Apr 10, 2003
Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said Thursday Ankara would take whatever measures it deemed necessary after witnesses said Kurdish forces had taken possession of the centre of northern Iraq's key oil city Kirkuk.

"We are following everything very carefully," the Anatolia news agency quoted Gul as telling reporters.

"We are doing what is necessary and we will do what is necessary. Turkey's position is open and clear," he added.

Turkey has threatened to intervene militarily in northern Iraq if local Kurds seized the oil-rich cities of Mosul and Kirkuk.

Ankara fears that control of local oil resources could embolden Iraqi Kurds to move towards independence, a prospect that could set an example to their restless fellow Kurds in Turkey.

SPACE.WIRE