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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — A disgraced former top Turkish military official said Monday that the Kurdistan region of Iraq is ready to declare its independence, but Turkey and Iran remain obstacles, the Turkish Cumhuriyet news agency reported.
"After World War I a Kurdish state was about to come into existence if Turkey and Iran did not deter it," the agency quoted former General Ilker Basbug, the former chief of staff of the Turkish military, as telling an audience in a meeting with trade and industrial organizations in the city of Antalya Monday.
Basbug was the 26th chief of staff of the Turkish military, but in August 2013 he was convicted on charges of "establishing and leading a terrorist organization," and "attempting to destroy the Turkish government or attempting to partially or completely prevent its functioning" in an alleged coup attempt.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment. However, the constitutional court of Turkey determined that Basbug's legal rights were violated and overturned his conviction. He was released on March 7, 2014.
Basbug went on in his address to the meeting that even Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of modern Turkey, had talked about the establishment of a Kurdish state in Iraq.
"Before the Lausanne treaty was ratified and when there were disputes over the Vilayat of Mosul, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk had said 'if a Kurdish state in Iraq was established it would negatively affect Kurds in Turkey,’” Basbug said.
The former senior general added that he believed a Kurdish state in the Middle East has always been a big concern to his country. "I look at Iraq, and see where it has reached. With my deep regret I am saying this is the reality: since the ratification of the Sevres treaty and the break out of World War I, there has always been a possibility that a Kurdish state would be a de-facto nation in the region one day," he said.
"There is a strong possibility that a Kurdish state would emerge in Iraq and it is closer than ever," he continued, adding that Turkey and Iran would paralyze any attempt towards Kurdish independence.
“Today, if Turkey and Iran say yes, we will see the establishment of a Kurdish state tomorrow. There is no other objection before the declaration of the Kurdish state," Basbug went on before adding "undoubtedly, Iran and Turkey are not satisfied with a Kurdish state."
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