In a press statement released in South Kurdistan following the visit to Turkey last week, Kurdistan Regional Government president Massoud Barzani denied allegations by Turkish media. According to such allegations he would expel the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) from the territory of Kurdistan if it refused to lay down arms.

Barzani rejected the allegations by saying to Jamawar TV in South Kurdistan: "I stated that no results could be obtained by means of weapons any more. I didn’t call on the PKK to lay down arms".

Barzani added in his statement that: "We will not use our peshmerga forces against PKK even if it continues its armed activities because we don’t want a civil war to break out among Kurds. The problems among Kurds harm our process we well."

Noting that the Kurdish problem in Turkey could only be solved through peaceful means, Barzani underlined that "This is a bilateral problem. We will not take side but we are trying to help ensuring a solution to the problem."

Speaking about the visit to Washington, Barzani remarked that the PKK was not discussed in talks in the U.S.