Turks, Kurds, Turkmen discuss joint problems in Arbil workshop

ARBIL / IraqiNews.com: During a 2-day workshop, a number of Turkish, Kurds and Turkmen intellectuals,  politicians , tribal sheikhs, and elderly people  discussed the problems facing the region, particularly those connected with the Kurds and Turkmen.  Turkish NGO Ekopolitik organized the workshop in Shaqlawa, Arbil province, with the participation of 30 intellectuals and journalists and 60 Kurdish and Turkmen personalities from Iraq and Kurdish region.  Ekopolitick coordinator Tariq Culunk told IraqiNews.com that “the aim of this workshop is to discuss the problems faced by the region, by a number of specialists, in order to find solutions.”  “The Kurdish question cannot be solved in Turkey without the role played by Kurdistan. We cannot solve the problem of the Turkmen in Kirkuk without taking the Turkish role into consideration,” he added.  Participating Turkish journalist Awni Azkoler, of The Radical, told IraqiNews.com that “Turkey wants to enter into the European Union with more democracy, because not only does Turkey have the problem of the Kurds to deal with, but  also the Turkish Shiites.”  He stressed that the Kurdish question in Turkey is going to be solved, with its positive effects on Iran and Kurdistan.  “I believe that the Kurdish question in Turkey shall be peacefully solved, and will affect the situation in Iraqi Kurdistan and Iran, because of the greater number of the Kurds are living in Turkey,” he noted.  He concluded that the Kurdish question will be solved on the con-federal system and the Kurdistan Kurds of Iraq shall be united with Turkey in con-federal system.   RM (TI)/SR 1226