The Foreign Relations Committee of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) released a statement about the remarks of the Turkish ambassador to Baghdad who visited southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq) last week.

The statement by KCK Foreign Relations Committee includes the following:

"Four days ago, the Turkish ambassador to Baghdad, Ali Rıza Güney, visited Hewlêr [Erbil] and held talks with Masrour Barzani and Massoud Barzani. After these meetings, a journalist asked the Turkish ambassador about the murder of Nagihan Akarsel, a member of the Jineolojî Research
Center, on October 4.

The Turkish ambassador to Baghdad, Ali Rıza Güney, ignoring Turkey's dozens of military bases on Iraqi soil and the ongoing occupation, told the journalist, "We care more about Iraq's sovereignty and territorial integrity than some elements inside Iraq."

Talking about the meeting with the Barzanis, the Turkish ambassador also said, "I told them about our expectations regarding the fight against PKK elements." By then stating that "PKK-oriented and PKK-affiliated elements are targets for us", the Turkish ambassador took responsibility for the murders committed in Sulaymaniyah and the recent murder of Nagihan Akarsel.

It is a known fact that the Turkish state has a very dirty record outside its borders, from money laundering to drug trafficking, from human trafficking to murder, using state facilities and mafia-gang methods, without recognizing any laws or legal standards.

As an official representative of Turkey, the Turkish ambassador to Baghdad has now assumed responsibility for this known fact. He has confessed to the murders committed by the Turkish state in Iraq/South Kurdistan and recklessly declared that they will continue to commit such murders.

This statement made after the meeting with Barzanis is a declaration of not recognizing the sovereign rights of Iraq and South Kurdistan. This also shows that the Turkish state does not recognize the UN Charter and international law.

The UN, the governments in Baghdad and Hewlêr, and all political parties, especially the KDP, PUK and Gorran, must take immediate action against this recklessness and the confession of the mafia-gang state. The parliament, civil society organizations, intellectuals and the people of South Kurdistan need to declare the Turkish ambassador Ali Rıza Güney persona non grata.

Silence in the face of this recklessness and arrogance will only mean support for the Turkish Republic, which wants to turn South Kurdistan into Turkey's backyard, and complicity in the crimes of Turkey´s hitmen."