June 19, 2001
   Turksih Daily News
    SAADET ORUC

    Ankara and Baghdad reached a real consensus regarding the second border gate
    with Iraq, senior Turkish officials said, pointing out that the Iraqi administration is the
    counterpart for Ankara, but not the Iraqi Kurds.

    "The technical and legal framework is being worked upon by each side," top
    diplomats said.

    "We don't consider northern parts of Iraq as the lands of Massoud Barzani, these are
    the lands of Iraq and our counterpart is Baghdad regarding the construction of the
    second border gate," sources said, emphasizing the Turkish policy of paying full
    respect for the territorial integrity and political unity of Iraq.

    "Iraqi border control officials will be in charge of the second border gate with Iraq,"
    officials say.

    Currently, the peshmergas (Iraqi-Kurds) of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP),
    headed by Barzani, are in charge of the Halil Ibrahim customs checkpoint, which
    comes under the KDP-controlled area.

    During the recent visit by undersecretary Faruk Logoglu to Baghdad, the second
    border gate issue was broadly discussed.
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The Kurdistan Observer
www.kurdistanobserver.com