Iraq says Turkish politicians stir divison in north

BAGHDAD, Jan 22 (Reuters) Iraq today accused Turkish politicians of fomenting division in its northern areas and said it might bring some form of economic pressure to bear on Ankara.

Turkey has accused Iraqi Kurds of systematically settling the city of Kirkuk, at the expense of resident Arabs and Turkish-speaking Turkmen, with the aim of incorporating its oil wealth into an independant Kurdish state. That, Ankara fears, could in turn fan Kurdish separatism on its own territory.

Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the cabinet had held a meeting to discuss ''interference by neighbouring countries'' and singled out two recent conferences in Turkey where Turkish politicians had hinted at military intervention.

''These statements give the wrong message and they aim to incite prejudice and deepen divisions between the various sides in Iraq,'' Dabbagh, who also complained of Syrian and Iranian interference, told a news conference.

''The Iraqi government may use economic pressure against these states,'' Dabbagh said. ''The Iraqi government is the only one that will intervene in Iraqi domestic affairs.'' He did not say what economic measures Baghdad could take.

Turkish territory provides crucial land routes for Iraqi oil exports to the West and convoys of trucks from Turkey, braving dangerous roads, supply Baghdad and other cities with goods.

The north of Iraq has remained relatively stable, while anti-American insurgency and sectarian fighting has raged in other areas. The United States, while sympathetic to Turkey's concerns over separatism might be reluctant to risk any major operations in support of its ally in the area.

TURKISH SEPARATISM FEARS Some nationalist Turkish politicians have also suggested military intervention to crush thousands of Turkish Kurdish rebels of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) hiding over the border in the mountains of northern Iraq.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said this month that Turkey, which sees itself as obliged to protect the Turkmen minority, could not stand idly by if Iraqi Kurds seized control of Kirkuk. He did not say what Ankara might do.

Despite sabre-rattling by some politicians, analysts rule out any major military intervention by Turkey, a close NATO ally of the United States. However, Ankara could, if it saw its interests threatened, launch small commando-type incursions.

Some fear Iranian involvement with fellow Shi'ites, Arab states' support for the Sunni Arab minority and Turkish links to the Turkish-speaking Turkmen are exacerbating centrifugal forces in Iraq and could embroil the entire West Asia in any Iraqi civil war.

''The Turkmen must not depend on Turkey,'' Dabbagh said. ''The Shi'ites must not depend on Iran and the Sunnis must not depend on the Arab states.'' REUTERS LL RAI2322