Kadafi’s Remarks on Kurds Mean Trouble for Visiting Turkish Leader
ANKARA, Turkey — An already controversial trip to Libya by Turkish Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan has turned into a political nightmare for the Islamist leader after Libya’s Moammar Kadafi touched a raw nerve by advocating creation of a Kurdish homeland.
As a result of Kadafi’s remarks, made at a joint news conference with Erbakan on Sunday, an opposition leader here called for the prime minister’s resignation; a censure motion against Erbakan’s government reportedly was submitted in Parliament; and the Foreign Ministry announced it was recalling the Turkish ambassador from Libya.
Turkey has been embroiled in a 12-year armed conflict with separatists of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Despite wide differences between Erbakan’s pro-Islamic Welfare Party and Turkey’s secular establishment, all maintain that Turkey’s territorial integrity must never be threatened by the Kurdish struggle for autonomy.
Newspapers ran pictures of Erbakan looking flustered and State Minister Abdullah Gul with his head in his hands after the news conference.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
