| | | | The 105 deputies of the parliament agreed to a declaration that the region would close its doors to all foreigners who want to send troops into Northern Iraq. The vote was taken early Tuesday in response to a decision of the Turkish parliament to allow US troops to be stationed on Turkish soil and for Turkish forces to be posted overseas in the event of a military operation against Iraq.
The Iraqi opposition groups emphasised in their statement that they would react to any move by Ankara to send troops into Northern Iraq.
However, the Turkomen minority in the region called on Turkish soldiers to enter Northern Iraq in order to prevent the official founding of an independent Kurdish state.
The Washington representative for Turkomen groups, Orhan Ketene, said that if a Kurdish state was established in Northern Iraq it would be less than 15 years before this led to the breaking away of the south east part of Turkey.
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