Fend Off Central Authorities!!

I heard on the news that the Iraqi Kurds rejected calls to deport Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) members from the north of Iraq into, which in itself gave some motive for the PKK to do exactly what the Turkish had in mind: incursion through Turkey and attacking the troops, leaving tens of both sides either killed or wounded. On the Kurdish Iraqi political front, Massoud Barazani and Jalal Talabi rejected calls to hand over members of the banned Kurdish party. Barazani expressed his readiness (and his people?)to fight the Turkish troops in case of any incursion. However, Talabani, Iraqi president had a little bit more rational to deal with this issue by saying that the PKK must put down their weapons and turn into a political organization and submit their cause through parliamentary means, especially (according to Talabani) that the PKK actions and operations in Turkey and Iran won’t serve the overall Kurdish cause.

Yesterday I watched an interview on TV with a high official in the regional government of Iraq's Kurdistan. After a long question answer related to the current crisis with the Turkish government, the program host asked: "in your opinion, what the solution?" He replied with emphasis “the solution goes through us, and the government in Ankara must have direct contact and have a transparent dialogue with us to reach a solution for this problem”.

This is one bold statement by ignoring and bypassing the central government in dealing with issues related to a group of foreigners hiding in the mountains of the same country.