ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The top Turkish nationalist Devlet Bahceli has blasted Kurdistan’s independence referendum and called Kirkuk Turkey’s 82nd province, saying “the security of Kirkuk is the security of Ankara.” Speaking at an event titled ‘Meeting of Kirkuk lovers,’ Bahceli leader of the Turkish Nationalist Movement (MHP) in Ankara said on Sunday no “power could stand in the way of Kirkuk being 82 and Mosul 83" provinces of Turkey. He described the referendum held in Kirkuk as a “game to defeat the national security of Turkey.” Multi-ethnic Kirkuk is home to a sizeable Turkmen population, in addition to Kurds and Arabs. Bahceli said Turkey would fight until their “last breath to defend Turkmenistan nationalists.” He added that “the territorial integrity of Iraq is the norm for us. We must strengthen relations with the Iraqi central government." As a Turkish nationalist hardliner, Bahceli is known for his harsh language against the Kurdish bid for independence, especially when it comes to Kirkuk, a city he claims to be historically Turkish. "A game is being played in the north of Iraq" Bahceli said, adding that Kurdistan Region authorities are working to “revive the Sevres Treaty” through the September 25 referendum. The Treaty of Sèvres was one of a series of treaties signed after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I that promised the people of Kurdistan an independent state but was never followed through. It marked the beginning of the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire. After World War I, Kurdish nationalists pinned their hopes to the treaty of Sevres. With the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, the Treaty of Lausanne partitioned Kurdish territory between Turkey, the British mandate of Iraq, the French mandate of Syria, and the Shah’s Persia. Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has also rejected Kurdistan’s referendum, deeming it a means to divide the territorial integrity of Iraq and calling on the Kurdish leadership to annul the vote. The people of Kurdistan voted in an overwhelming majority for independence from Iraq. The Kurdistan leadership has refused to annul the results, despite pressure from Ankara, Baghdad, and internationally.
